Williams hands reserve Browning first FW48 runs across Barcelona and Austria FP1 sessions

Luke Browning will make his first appearances in Williams’ FW48 when the British reserve driver takes part in FP1 at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona this weekend and the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring later this month.

Browning will step into Alex Albon’s car for first practice in Barcelona before switching to Carlos Sainz’s FW48 in Austria — his fifth and sixth FP1 outings for Williams in total, having made four previous appearances across 2024 and 2025, all in older-specification machinery.

“I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of the FW48 for the first time, and to have two opportunities to experience the car first-hand in the European season makes it even more special,” Browning said. “I’ve been working hard to prepare so that I can make the most of these sessions and help the team plan and prepare for the race weekends ahead.”

Williams sporting director Sven Smeets described the sessions as a natural progression for the 23-year-old, who is balancing his reserve role with a rookie campaign in Super Formula this year. “Luke continues to prove himself as a valuable part of the team, both through his simulator work and his performances on track,” Smeets said. “Giving him his first opportunity to get behind the wheel of the FW48 across two race weekends is an important step in his development.”

The announcements come against a backdrop of unusually slow progress across the paddock in fulfilling the mandatory four FP1 rookie sessions each team must complete per season. A disrupted calendar start and the introduction of new technical regulations have contributed to the slow uptake.

Racing Bulls is the only team to have completed two of its four required sessions so far, with Arvid Lindblad qualifying for those outings in Australia and China as the sole rookie on the grid at the start of the year. Aston Martin ran Jak Crawford in Fernando Alonso’s car at the Japanese Grand Prix, but no other team has registered a rookie FP1 appearance to date.

Several factors have suppressed opportunities earlier in the year. The cluster of sprint race weekends in China, Miami, and Canada left teams with only a single practice session at each event, making rookie running an unattractive proposition. Monaco, meanwhile, is traditionally avoided for FP1 debuts given the circuit’s unforgiving nature and the premium placed on maximising practice time before qualifying.