Luke Browning to drive Williams in Italian GP FP1

Luke Browning will take over Alex Albon's Williams FW48 for the first practice session at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, scheduled for September 4, 2026. The 24-year-old British driver, who serves as the team's reserve driver, will participate in the session as part of Formula 1's mandatory rookie-running requirement, which obliges teams to give drivers who have started no more than two Grands Prix two practice sessions during the season. This will be Browning's second FP1 appearance of the year, following a session at the Austrian Grand Prix where he finished 18th, just three-tenths of a second behind Albon.

Browning had originally been scheduled to drive in FP1 at both the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona and the Austrian Grand Prix, but an electrical problem prevented him from running in Spain. The Monza session will therefore be his sixth overall FP1 outing for Williams, having first appeared in an official F1 session during FP1 at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He has since added four more practice outings to his tally and was promoted to the team's reserve driver role for 2026, combining those responsibilities with a Super Formula campaign in Japan for Kondo Racing.