Williams has handed Luke Browning another crack at F1 mileage, confirming the Brit will take Alex Albon’s seat for FP1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and return for the post-season Young Driver Test at Yas Marina.
It’s familiar ground for the 23-year-old. Browning made his official FP1 debut at Abu Dhabi last year, and he’s already notched two Friday outings this season — Bahrain and Mexico City — as teams work through an expanded rookie-running mandate. For 2025, each outfit must field rookies in four FP1 sessions, with both race drivers stepping aside twice during the year. Yas Marina, as ever, is where most of those boxes get ticked.
Browning will also be juggling a heavyweight weekend of his own. He arrives still in the thick of the Formula 2 title fight, sitting third ahead of the season’s final two rounds in Lusail and Abu Dhabi. The Williams junior has been one of F2’s steadier scorers this year, banking a feature win at Monza and eight further podiums to keep himself in range.
“It’s going to be an unforgettable weekend in Abu Dhabi fighting for the Formula 2 title while getting back behind the wheel of the FW47, and it’s a challenge I’m going to relish,” Browning said. “The Young Driver Test will give me a final opportunity to help the team prepare for 2026 and I’m looking forward to being part of a Formula 1 weekend for the last time this season. Thank you to everyone at the Driver Academy and Williams for the trust once again.”
Williams will be pleased with the timing. Abu Dhabi’s low-risk layout and generous run-offs make it the sport’s go-to proving ground for rookies, and Browning already knows the place well. He logged 105 laps there in last year’s post-season test and has steadily increased his F1 workload across 2025. This time he’ll take over the FW47 on Friday and return in the days after the race for the all-important data crunch that closes out the year.
The Chester-born driver’s rise through the junior ranks has been neat and tidy so far. He joined Williams’ academy in early 2023 off the back of a dominant GB3 title in 2022, added the Macau Grand Prix crown the following year — never a bad line to have on the CV — and finished third in the FIA Formula 3 championship in 2024. The progression into F2 has been equally assured, with speed and race craft that translate well into longer stints.
As for Williams, this is part compliance, part talent audit. Teams rarely waste rookie sessions on passengers, and Browning’s workload suggests he’s firmly on the radar as a future option. Abu Dhabi tends to be a carousel of young names in FP1, so expect a busy pit lane on Friday as several teams cycle through their own academy prospects.
There’s also the small matter of 2026 looming in the background. The Young Driver Test isn’t just a pat on the head for prospects; it’s the last, clean environment to run test items, validate simulator work, and tune procedures before the factory machine spins up for the winter and the long march to new regulations begins. Browning will have a hand in that, too — and he knows exactly what an opportunity like that can do.
One more FP1, one more test, and a title fight to settle. Not a bad way to clock out of 2025.
