Cheshire’s Luke Browning has been labelled as ‘one to watch for the future’ after an impressive start to his Formula 3 career.
The 19-year-old stormed from 17th on the grid in Sunday’s feature race in Bahrain, eventually clinching fifth at the chequered flag.
And Matt Smith, co-host of the Untitled Grand Prix Podcast, believes there is more to come from the Hitech GP driver.
“Qualifying didn’t quite go his way,” Smith said. “He said he had a lot of laps blocked, so he was unable to get his true pace out of the car and he qualified down in 17th.
“Going into the feature, he put that disappointment behind him, looked forward and made up so many positions to secure fifth.
“It does make you wonder, what could he do had he started further up the grid? Luke Browning is one to watch for the future.”
Browning is set to test an F1 car after winning the Aston Martin BRDC award in December, previously won by Jenson Button, Lando Norris and George Russell.
But Smith has stressed that Browning should remain focused on his F3 campaign, with thoughts of Formula 1 a long way away yet.
“Formula 1 is a little too far in the future just yet, we need to look at how he might perform in Formula 2,” he added.
“There’s a number of drivers in the past who have excelled in Formula 3, but sometimes those who swim in F3 sink in F2.
“Based on what I’ve seen so far, it would not surprise me at all if he reached Formula 1, but he first needs to focus on F3 and then F2.”
Browning will next be in action when Formula 3 heads to Australia for the first time in the series’ history on 31 March.
