Luke Browning handed valuable Williams audition as Alex Albon sits out Spain FP1

Williams will put out rookie driver Luke Browning in place of Alex Albon for the first practice session at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Williams is set to tick off one of its four required rookie sessions this weekend, with Albon handing his car over to reserve driver Luke Browning.

Luke Browning gets Williams FP1 audition in Spain

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Browning has been confirmed for two first practice sessions, replacing Albon for FP1 in Spain, and replacing Carlos Sainz for the same session at next months’ Austrian Grand Prix.

Every team is required to field a rookie driver for four FP1 sessions during the season, with each race driver mandated to sit out two sessions in order to allow for this opportunity; there is no indication yet as to whether Browning, or another name, will fill the remaining slots later this season.

The 24-year-old is no stranger to Williams cars, having already taken part in four FP1 sessions with the Grove-based squad, as well as the young driver tests at the end of 2024 and ’25, but will be the first time he’s driven a car from the new regulation set introduced this season.

Browning finished fourth in last year’s Formula 2 championship and, this year, is racing in Japan’s Super Formula with Kondo as he maintains race fitness alongside his duties as the Williams test driver – Super Formula being between F2 and F1 in terms of outright speed and laptime.

With the British driver hopeful of an F1 opportunity opening up, perhaps at Williams itself if either Sainz or Albon move elsewhere, he declared himself ready for the challenge as he spoke to select media, including PlanetF1.com, ahead of the announcement of his FP1 appearance.

“Obviously, it’s important for me to start performing in these free practices,” he said, when asked by PlanetF1.com if he is viewing the outings as an audition.

“There’s no pressure necessarily on lap times, but it’s just showing that I’m ready to get in a seat if I’m needed.

“That’s not necessarily pressure from above, that’s just what I apply about myself. I want to hold myself to a good standard and make sure that I’m ready when I get in.

“I feel ready now, I feel fit enough. I’ve done Super Formula, obviously it is super good for neck strength, and with the TPC testing that I’ve been doing, I feel ready to drive a Formula 1 car now. It’s just whether the opportunity comes around.”

The fact that the current drivers only have a few race weekends of practical learning of how to best utilise the new formula cars means that there is a better opportunity for junior drivers getting a chance being able to impress, Browning reckons.

“I think it’s super difficult, the new car clearly is,” he said, when asked about the challenges facing him to prepare.

“The really exciting part for me is that it’s a clean slate. Getting into FP1 last year was the fifth year [sic] of the car, there was a lot of experienced guys on the grid there, so hopping in for free practice when they’ve done the last four years, it was very, very difficult to get close.

“Whereas you know, okay, they’ve had the preseason testing in Barcelona, but yeah, the opportunity for rookies now getting in is quite exciting, because we’re not having to unlearn anything, unlearn breaking points.

“It’s still the fastest thing that we’ve driven, essentially, so it’s quite exciting for me to just learn and see something new.

“It’s almost like a new chapter, or a new skill tree on some games!”

With Formula 1 now demanding quite unique driving dynamics from its drivers, although this uniqueness has reduced in line with the energy harvesting revisions introduced for the Miami Grand Prix, has there ever been a more difficult time to thrive when thrown in at the deep end as a rookie?

“I think… probably not, I’d say, but then we do have a simulator here,” he said, when asked about this challenge by PlanetF1.com.

“Whereas probably, in the past, if you had rookie drivers coming in that had never driven Formula 1 before and came straight out of Formula 3 with the sim 10 years ago, not really probably not being quite to the same standard, that may even be more difficult, I think.

“There’s probably talk about it being difficult or being very complicated but the way it’s been explained to me, it’s quite simple, to be honest.

“I feel like I’m on top of it all in the simulator, and there’s nothing that I’m necessarily missing in terms of terms of knowledge.

“I agree, maybe for the spectators or for the general public it could be a little bit more difficult than last year, possibly, but for me, I feel in a good place with it.”

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With Browning using Super Formula as his training, allowing more opportunity for him to round out his skill set, he said his jumping around between the Japanese category, driving older generation F1 cars, and now a contemporary F1 test, means that having that experience is invaluable.

“I’ve taken a lot of learning over there,” he said.

“The philosophy is a little bit different in the way that the driver leads the engineering side, so I’m learning a lot on that front, which is something I’ve not really had to do in the past.

“I guess I’m starting to apply some of the stuff that I’ve learned on the simulator, which I’ve done over the past couple years, but yeah, I’m obviously doing some testing previous cars [TPC], so did a test with the 2025 car out in Budapest not too long ago, and also Monza, so starting to get up to speed now in the previous car.

“Obviously, it’s a very different generation to the new car, on different tyres, so it doesn’t necessarily correlate.

“So I’m a busy boy! Driving the Super Formula car on different Japanese tracks which I’ve not driven before, then the old 25 cars on tracks I know from Formula 1 and then I’m learning all the energy side of this year’s Formula 1 at each event. So, yeah, I’m busy!”

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