Luke Browning to drive FW48 during FP1 sessions in Mexico and Brazil
Atlassian Williams F1 Team Reserve Driver Luke Browning to complete the team's final two mandated rookie FP1 sessions
Published
27 OCT 2026
Est. reading time
3 min
Atlassian Williams F1 Team is pleased to confirm that Reserve Driver and Academy member Luke Browning will complete the team’s final two mandated rookie FP1 sessions at the Mexican and Brazilian Grands Prix - driving Alex Albon’s FW48 in Mexico before taking over Carlos Sainz’s car in Brazil.
Luke will step into the FW48 for the first time since the introduction of the lightweight chassis upgrade in Baku, giving him a first-hand understanding of the new package and what it brings in terms of performance and learning. The knowledge he gains from these outings will feed directly into his simulator work, supporting the team’s progress behind the scenes.
With these final two sessions, Luke will have driven in all four of Williams’ mandated FP1 rookie sessions this season, which is a mark of the team’s trust in him, his progression as a driver, and part of Williams’ proud tradition of giving young talent a pathway into F1. The Driver Academy supports drivers on every rung of the motorsport ladder, bringing emerging drivers into the programme and supporting each driver as they advance toward the highest levels of competition.
Luke's most recent FP1 outing came at the Italian Grand Prix
Luke Browning:
“I’m happy to be back in the FW48 and grateful to be trusted by Atlassian Williams F1 Team with all four of the team’s rookie FP1 sessions this year. It’s a great opportunity to get more laps in the car, while building my understanding of the new package and bringing useful data and feedback back to Grove. Each session teaches you something new, and I will take every bit of learning I can from this to help keep pushing my development and the team forward.”
This year, Luke has taken on the role of Reserve Driver for Atlassian Williams F1 Team while racing for Team Kondo Racing in Super Formula, Japan’s premier single-seater series and widely considered the second-fastest in the world behind Formula 1.
As Reserve, Luke plays an important role in helping to push the team forward in Formula 1’s new regulations era. In addition to race weekend stand-by duties, Luke continues to help develop the car through data analysis and simulator work.
Sven Smeets, Sporting Director:
“Luke continues to prove himself as a valuable part of the team, both through his simulator work and his performances on track. Giving him the chance to get behind the wheel of the FW48 across two race weekends is an important step in his development and a natural progression. It’s valuable for us to have consistency in the driver across all four of our rookie test sessions, as it allows us to improve the correlation between the data we gather on track and our simulator work. We have a talented group of young drivers in the Williams F1 Team Driver Academy, and we’re pleased to continue providing opportunities like this to support their progression and development.”
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