British driver Luke Browning secures Williams F1 reserve role

British racing driver Luke Browning will get behind the wheel of a Williams F1 car in 2026 after landing a reserve role with the Oxfordshire-based team.

The 23-year-old spent 2025 in Formula 2 with Hitech Grand Prix, where he finished fourth thanks to one race win and nine podium finishes in what was his first full-time season in the category. Before his time in F2, Browning won titles in the F4 British Championship in 2020 with Fortec Motorsport and the 2022 GB3 Championship with Hitech. He also won the prestigious Macau Grand Prix in the 2023 F3 Championship.

Browning has spent time behind the wheel of an F1 car before, with the Brit driving an Aston Martin AMR21 at Silverstone in 2023 after winning the Autosport BRDC Award during the previous year. He also had stints in free practice with Williams in 2024 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and 2025 in Bahrain, Mexico City and a second Abu Dhabi appearance.

The reserve role at Williams will see Browning on standby for main drivers Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, while he’ll also help to develop the car through data analysis and simulator work. He will combine his role at Williams with racing for Team Kondo Racing in Super Formula, Japan’s premier racing series, and widely considered to be the second-fastest racing series in the world behind Formula 1.

Browning, who became a member of the Williams Driver Academy in 2023, said he was ‘incredibly excited’ at what 2026 had in store, calling it ‘next step up towards a full-time Formula 1 seat’.

Luke Browning at the 2025 Formula 2 Monaco Grand Prix

words: Mike Booth
pictures: Hitech GP