Williams Academy Driver Luke Browning is one of 10 drivers set to make their FIA Formula 2 full-season debut this year, driving alongside Sweden’s Dino Beganovic. Having made his F2 debut late in the 2024 season with ART Grand Prix, Browning has had a remarkable journey to where he is today. 

British F4 2019-2020

Browning’s single-seater career officially started in 2019, after a spectacular season in the Ginetta Juniors Championship, taking 8 victories and a further 10 podiums across the season, taking third in the drivers’ championship. 

Deciding to stay with the same team he had so much success with in Ginetta Juniors, Browning stepped up to British F4 with Richardson racing.

Continuing his successful momentum from the year before, Browning won his first race during the season opener, a rainy Brands Hatch. Having slightly less luck in his second ever single-seater race, Browning collided with Formula E’s Zane Maloney on the last corner of the final lap, being demoted to third after a ten-second time penalty after being first to the flag. 

His poor luck resurfaced again, after victory at Thruxton, Browning took his final win of the season. Snetterton seemed so perfect – crossing the line first –  but a post-race penalty for a jump start saw Browning drop to third place. Luke finished Sixth in his first season, taking two wins and nine podiums. 

Browning decided to make the move to Fortec Motorsport for his second season of British F4. With the opening round seeing 2 podiums for the British driver, the Championship battle was off to a good start. Browning delivered an extremely consistent and impressive season, taking 7 victories, 16 podiums and only finishing out of the top six twice all year. 

A season that will be remembered for a long time, full of action and mostly recognised for the intense battle between Browning and Zak O’Sullivan, going into the conclusionary round even on points. The intense battle between the two Brits kept viewers on the edge of their seats all season, with the pair trading victories at almost every race weekend.

The third round at Oulton Park was a stand-out weekend for Luke, taking a clean sweep and gaining even more confidence as he continued this momentum at Knockhill, taking two wins and a further podium. 

The season came to an end at Brands Hatch, with Browning taking a double pole position and winning the first race. Despite O’Sullivan outperforming Browning to the line in the final race, the race was halted mid-way, with half points awarded, crowning Luke Browning as the 2020 British F4 champion.

Luke won the title by a four point advantage over O’Sullivan, clinching the title in a dramatic fashion. 

ADAC F4 – 2021

Starting the year on the same high he finished last year on, Browning took a win during the third race at the Red Bull ring. He further continued this streak, taking a double podium at both the Hockenheimring and Sachsenring.

Continuing his good streak on German soil, Browning took another win in the final race of the second Hockenheimring round, demonstrating a dauntless defence against Joshua Dufek in the penultimate laps.

He took a further double podium at the Nurburgring, solidifying his P3 in the championship, behind Red Bull Junior Tim Tramnitz and Haas F1 rookie Oliver Bearman.

GB3 – 2021-2022

In early September Browning announced that he would make his GB3 debut at Oulton Park – a track he’s experienced success at many times. He finished his first race in second place between ex-title rival Zak O’Sullivan, but was later disqualified after he was found to have an illegal skid block. 

He found success in Race 2, taking the chequered flag first however his luck ran out in the third and final race – he was a bystander in an unavoidable incident, retiring shortly after. He finished 25th in the standings.

Browning made the switch to Hitech Grand Prix for the 2022 season, the same team he would soon graduate to F3 and F2 with. He had a show-stopping start, taking a double pole and win at Oulton Park, with one of these wins having a 10s margin to the next driver. Browning was off to a flying start, already making a big name for himself.  

Disaster struck in the second Silverstone round, following a disqualification in qualifying and for the first time no podiums all weekend, losing his tight grasp on the championship lead. Success in the form of a double-podium at Brand hatch gave him his lead back, with a 16.5 point advantage over his title-rival Joel Granfors ahead of the season finale at Donnington Park. He took two further podiums, easing the pressure for the final race.

He won the championship by a huge 46.5 points, with 5 wins and a further 8 podiums to his name. As for his prize, he won a 2-day test in an FIA Formula 3 car.

F3 2023

Alongside Gabriele Mini and Sebastian Montoya, Browning took part in the official Fia Formula 3 Pre-season testing with Hitech TGR, and just 2 days before the 2023 season started, Luke Browning was announced to complete Hitech’s lineup for the year.

He had a disappointing start, qualifying 17th and getting tagged by Hugh Barter in an incident during the Sprint race – the Feature race was quite the opposite for Browning, as he quickly made his way through the pack,  taking his first points as he crossed the line in P5.

Melbourne started well for Browning, however it was too good to be true. A qualifying session interrupted by multiple red flags proved to be tricky for some, but Browning  qualified P9 for the feature, and P4 for the Sprint, his best result so far. 

A flying start that took him up to P2 was short-lasted, as contact with Ollie Goethe and teammate Sebastian Montoya saw Browning crossing the finish line in P11, with a post-race penalty further setting him back to P17.

The rest of the season proved difficult for the Brit, taking his best finish of P4 during the Monaco feature race after struggling to overtake Estonia’s Paul Aron, Browning narrowly missed out on standing on the podium.

He ultimately finished 15th in the standings, with 41 points.

Formula E – 2023

Exploring the world of electric racing, Browning took part in the Formula E Rookie Test in Berlin with the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team. He proved to be very impressive, sixth quickest in the morning session – only three-tenths off the pace – and seventh quickest in the afternoon, two-tenths off.

This put him ahead of three experienced F1 drivers – Daniil Kvyat, Will Stevens and Roberto Mehri.

Williams Driver Academy – 2023

In late April, Williams Racing announced Luke Browning to join the Williams Driver Academy, proudly wearing the dark blue livery for the season. Working closely with the team, he had many opportunities to be trackside with the British team during the Grands Prix.

F3 2024

After a mixed debut season, Browning continued with Hitech, and had a much better start than the season prior – qualifying on the front row for the Feature race. The Sprint race was one to forget, dropping from P7 to P15 following a ten-second penalty for gaining an advantage off track.

The feature race was a different story, taking the lead after future teammate Dino Beganovic stalled lead to Browning taking his maiden victory in the series.  This secured his championship lead, which he held onto until Imola.

An unsuccessful overtake attempt in the sprint saw Browning break his front wing and eventually beach him in the gravel, resulting in zero points taken home. Monaco was better, finishing eighth in the Sprint race and third in the Feature after he maintained his starting position.

Browning finally claimed his maiden Pole at Austria, with smiles all around as he converted this to a win in the Feature race, taking a lights-to-flag victory.

Browning proved to be a title contender, taking Pole in a rain-interrupted Silverstone qualifying session, however the weekend ended in disappointment after the Brit didn’t finish the Sprint race, and came home in 8th for the Feature.

Heading into the season finale at Monza, Browning was 3rd in the drivers’ championship with 123 points. An underwhelming qualifying left his champion chances low, needing to outscore the home hero Leonardo Fornaroli by 7 points in order to claim the title.

His champion chances came to an end quickly, with a spin in the opening laps needing a strong drive to recover. He climbed to P13, but a collision with Joseph Loake resulted in a penalty and a P20 finish for the title-contender.

He finished the season in third, with 3 podiums – 2 of which were wins, and 2 pole positions.

F2 2024

Following a successful 2024 F3 campaign, Luke stepped up to Formula 2 with ART Grand Prix for the final three rounds of the season, replacing [at the time] fellow Williams Academy driver Zak O’Sullivan, who unfortunately announced he would not continue after a lack of budget.

He quickly adapted, qualifying P11 – only 0.079s off Sprint pole in Baku behind fellow rookie Christian Mansell. Browning scored his first points in his maiden  Formula 2 Feature race, with a solid drive allowing him seventh to the line.

A spin at the end of the Lusail qualifying session saw Browning in the gravel, leaving him 14th for both the Sprint and Feature. He finished the Sprint in 11th, narrowly missing out on the points after Ritomo Miyata’s penalty bumped him up from 12th.

Unfortunately, the safety car disadvantaged drivers like Browning on the alternate strategy during the Feature, causing him to take home zero points over the course of the weekend.

A difficult qualifying at Yas Marina saw Browning starting both the Sprint and Feature in 17th, but a hectic Sprint race in true F2 fashion lead to an incredible drive from the Williams-backed Driver, crossing the line in 17th. He finished the Feature race in 15th.

Browning finished his three-race stint with 7 points and 26th in the drivers’ championship.

Formula 1 2024

Browning made his F1 free practice debut at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with Williams, finishing his debut session in P20. He also drove the Williams FW46 during the Post Season Young Drivers’ test, finishing 11th in the overall classification, ahead of full time F1 drivers like Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda.

F2 2025

Returning to the team he’s had great success with before, Browning signed for Hitech TGR alongside Dino Beganovic. After evaluating his F3 season, Browning has set himself a challenge to make “No mistakes” and emphasises the importance of consistency.

Off to a flying start, Browning claimed the last step of a podium on his full-season debut, after multiple safety cars interrupted the 23 lap dash to the chequered flag. The Feature race was unfortunately cancelled due to unsafe weather conditions.

Other accomplishments

After winning the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award in 2022, Browning won the opportunity to drive one of Aston Martin’s AMR21 cars at Silverstone.

One of the most impressive moments of Luke Browning’s career was his dominant display in the 2023 Macau Grand Prix, leading every lap of Saturday’s Qualifying race and Sundays main event. Taking the win and cementing himself in the greats who have won Macau, like Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.

Image: FML