Over the past year, Hitech TGR’s Luke Browning has seen tremendous development in his career as opportunities have flooded in with his involvement at Williams Racing. At the end of 2024, the Briton made his FP1 debut and hopped into the FW46 at the season finale in Abu Dhabi. He then got behind the wheel of Williams 2025 FW47 in Bahrain for his second FP1 outing. Since joining the Williams Driver Academy in 2023, Browning has gone on to deliver impressive results, highlighted by his prestigious win at the Macau Grand Prix and a strong third-place finish in his second Formula 3 season.
Before the F2 Hungarian GP, Browning spoke to Pit Debrief and other media outlets during Thursday’s media session about his testing-of-previous-cars (TPC) programme and his personal growth as a driver.
Testing F1 cars with Williams
Ahead of the Hungarian GP, he’d posted on his socials about his latest testing session with the team at Silverstone. Having participated in several testing sessions with the Grove-based team now, Browning reflected on his F1 progress. Noting how far he has come in adapting to the physical demands of a F1 car, the Briton believes he now feels confident and is competitive behind the wheel.
“Yeah. So, to answer the final question, a lot. F1 cars are things that you can just jump in without testing, and it’d be instantly there. So, it’s been very exciting now getting up to the point where now, if I was stopping a F1 car, I think I’d be very competitive, and my neck’s hanging on, which is good. So, it’s funny how the fitness improves throughout.”
He shared that joining him trackside was fellow Williams Junior Victor Martins. The Briton highlighted the ongoing support the Williams Driver Academy provides in nurturing young talent, crediting it for helping drivers progress through the ranks. Nonetheless, he shared that more opportunities have already been lined up and is something he looks forward to.
“To answer your question, yeah, it was, I think I posted the story the day after the testing. We had, I think, a day split between me and Victor [Martins] in the F1 car, which is good. So, it just shows the continued support that the Academy have given to the drivers to push them through the ranks and get them ready, and it’s exciting. So yeah, we’ve had a few days now, and I think we’ve got some more lined up.”
Toyota’s involvement with Hitech
At the end of July, Hitech announced the team’s three-car entry in the 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy. A regional series based in New Zealand, many drivers in Europe have made the trip to compete in the series. In recent years, drivers like Arvid Lindblad, Roman Bilinski and Charlie Wurz have found success and all emerged as champions. When asked about Toyota’s involvement with Hitech, Browning kept his response simple and straightforward, noting that the partnership is still in its early stages.
Browning said: “Yes, I’ve seen Toyota as a part of the Hitech quite recently, I think. I don’t know too much about it. I know it’s been quite recent. So yeah, it’s good to see the partnership from both sides. And I hope it’s what suits us.”
“A more well-rounded driver” says Browning on his personal growth
Pit Debrief had the chance to ask Browning about how he sees his personal development over the past year. Reflecting on his growth, the 23 year-old explained how constantly learning from the people around him have improved him for the better. Despite past financial challenges and his evident raw pace, Browning believes he’s become a more well-rounded driver.
“Oh, that’s a good question. I’m always learning. I try and be like a sponge to the people around me, and it’s everything, you know, from other drivers on the grid to just the people I have close around me. It’s everything, I’d say.
“I’m becoming a more well-rounded driver, and I feel like the pace has always been there for me, but the mentality and how to win, how to go about things the right way, how to attack in the right way, race craft, you know, from my early career was not well funded, so I didn’t get the opportunity to race and to have the opportunity to test it and drive go-karting every day of the week like a lot of the kids did.”
Browning compared his development to climbing a steep hill, acknowledging that while his learning curve is still high, he’s steadily improving year after year and is happy to see that his progress is reflecting in his performance.
“So if you look at it like a learning ladder, like a steep ladder or a steep hill, I feel like my hill’s very high. I’ve still got loads of room for growth. It’s just taking a longer time, and I just feel like I’m getting better and better with every year, and I think that’s showing in my performance, which is nice. It’s good that it’s being seen as well.”
