How my motorsport journey started
“I realised at a very young age that I craved adrenaline and competition. That’s what motivated me, and what really is what I wanted to devote my life to. I think I could have been a professional at any sport that really I put my mind to.
“Racing happened very, very late, unlike a lot of go-karters. I was playing football and then switched to racing at 14. I didn’t do any European karting and joined the Citroen Saxos. I went from a club route to national level through an eSports competition. I set the fastest lap time on the sim, turned up to the Autosport [Young Driver] Award and got a free test day. I was fastest at the test and then that paid for my season.
“I had to repeat a couple seasons at that point, even after I won them, because I didn’t have the funding. After winning a one-off round in GB3 I got noticed by Oli Oakes at Hitech, who paid for my GB3 seat, and then the rest is history.”
Browning is dovetailing his Williams reserve duties with a drive in Japan’s Super Formula series. The 24-year-old currently sits eighth in the standings after four races, with a brace of fourth-place finishes
Photo by: Masahide Kamio
My strengths as a driver
“I think my wet-weather driving is outstanding. Through my junior career that’s what has saved my career in many ways. So I won the championship in F4 [in the rain], and even in F3 I was always the quickest in the wet, so that’s probably my strength.
“I never, ever had new tyres as a kid, so i just got used to driving on bad rubber and always sliding around. I’ve never been afraid of the rain either. Sometimes the European kids like to come in and stop if it starts raining and wait for it to dry. I was always the one that wanted to feel the crossover, and I’ve just got this feeling in the steering wheel of where the grip is. It makes me come alive when it starts to rain.”
My weaknesses as a driver
“I think I’ve got a lot of weaknesses, but obviously you work on them and you tune them out throughout the years. I think previously I relied a little bit too much on my natural talent and probably didn’t prepare as much as I should have. That was a bit of my downfall, especially the first year of F3 I just kind of turned up. I was quick, but I missed the stuff that you needed to prepare for – where you can overtake, where you can’t overtake, what the tendencies of the other drivers were.
“I had no idea who all these European drivers were and I treated them all like I could just drive through them in the first year. But you need to do your research and I think that was probably one of the biggest lessons I learned. And now I really think my preparation is second to none.”
“I think previously I relied a little bit too much on my natural talent. That was probably one of the biggest lessons I learned. And now I really think my preparation is second to none.”
Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images
My most memorable achievement so far
“It’s probably between winning the Macau Grand Prix against the likes of Isack Hadjar and winning the Autosport Award against Ollie Bearman. They’re two of the hot talents in F1 now, and one is sat next to Max Verstappen.
“Coming from a background of doing no testing, winning British F4 with a team that never won it before, winning British F3 with a team that never won it before, and then winning Macau… 2023 was really a key year.
“It’s funny, really, because you go through these massive spaces in time where you don’t make any progress and you feel like you’re getting nowhere. And then you take this quantum leap in one year where it all just comes together all at once.”
How I got noticed by Williams
“I won the British F3 championship in my first year, and then the Autosport Award came around, which I won against someone like Ollie Bearman. I got noticed by two junior programmes and I ended up going to Williams.
“The prize for winning the award was being a simulator driver for Mercedes. James Vowles was there at the time and I remember calling up James and saying, ‘Hey James, I’m doing a lot of work in your factory. Can I have a seat in your junior programme, please?’ And he said, ‘Sorry, Luke, we’re full here, but you’ve been so impressive on the simulator. If anything comes along, I’ll let you know.’ Two weeks later, James was announced as the team principal of Williams and I was his first signing.”
Browning tested an Aston Martin F1 car as a prize for winning the Autosport Award
Photo by: Jake Grant
My first time driving an F1 car
“I drove an Aston Martin at Silverstone as a prize for winning the Autosport Award. That was fantastic. [The cold and wet conditions were] were just my absolute dream for the first time driving a Formula 1 car… but I didn’t put a foot wrong, thankfully. I was quite quick on the day, which actually really helped me get into the junior programme. We had a good reference in the day before, and we beat it, which was quite strong for my first time in the car.”
What I enjoy doing outside racing
“Any sport. I’m enjoying cycling at the moment, trying to get my FTP [functional threshold power] up. I really enjoy padel. I just love competition. I once trained for 18 months for one golf competition. I remember going out every day to practice by myself and I hated it. It was just pain. But I won and I haven’t played since, so that probably shows my mentality towards competition!”
“I need something outside racing. For me it’s a great mental reset. If you constantly stick your head into the only thing that you’re doing, you’ll go crazy. I think you need the ability to take a reset, and sometimes you can learn a lot from other sports. Even in padel you can learn a lot from staying calm and not smashing the ball against the back wall every time. That’s something you can apply to racing.”
Luke Browning with Miami Dolphins players AJ Henning and Ethan Robinson. “I love competition. I need something outside racing. For me it’s a great mental reset.”
Photo by: Maya Dehlin Spach / LAT Images via Getty Images
In what year I expect my F1 debut
“As soon as possible. I’m ready any time now. Obviously, I’m the reserve driver, and I’m here if they need me. As with everything in Formula 1, you never know when your opportunity arises. These things sometimes just happen out of the blue, and sometimes it’s meant to be, and sometimes it’s not. All I can do is prepare the best that I can to show that when I’m doing the FP1 sessions, I’m doing a good job. Hopefully that’s enough.”
