Williams Racing junior Luke Browning heads into the 2025 F2 season looking to make a name for himself and show F1 teams his worth, including to his manager and current Alpine team principal Oli Oakes.
Balancing his role as a Williams F1 reserve and driving in F2
The move by Franco Colapinto to Alpine F1 sees Luke Browning take on the role as a reserve for Williams Racing this year. Zak O’Sullivan, a former Williams junior, has gone over to Super Formula following an early end to his 2024 F2 season.
Speaking to Pit Debrief and other media outlets ahead of the F2 season, the 23-year-old British driver explained how he plans to manage things.
“Yes, I think, obviously, it’s difficult.
“You’ve got a lot on and you fly a lot of places. But, equally, we’re only doing 14. So, imagine the drivers that are doing 24. Plus, they have way more media commitments.
“I think, obviously, it’s just stepping up. I think it’s the right time for me to step up, take on this responsibility and to be able to experience what’s going on in F1 weekend, as well as being able to fully focus on what’s going on in Formula 2. So yeah, the goal is still the same.
“I’m taking on the processes that Williams are teaching me in how to manage my time to be able to fit everything in.”
Opportunities to come at Williams if he does well?
Franco Colapinto drove for Williams from Monza and beyond last year following the decision of James Vowles to remove Logan Sargeant from his F1 seat. The driver from Argentina impressed in a FP1 run at Silverstone, and he was also doing a good job in Formula 2.
Browning is confident he will get an opportunity at Williams if he does very well in F2 this year. Colapinto moved to Alpine as Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon are both on multi-year deals with the Grove-based squad.
“In Williams the way it works is you do well, then you get the opportunity and it’ll come.
“I’m confident if I perform, I’ll have the opportunity to show myself.”
Luke Browning on the key role Oli Oakes and Hitech have played in his career
2025 marks Browning’s fourth straight season with Hitech in the junior categories. In 2022, he won the GB3 championship.
The relationship continued in 2023 and 2024 in Formula 3. After a relatively disappointing P15 in the standings two years ago, Browning made a big jump last year as he finished 3rd in the F3 Drivers’ Championship with Hitech.
No podiums after his win in the Red Bull Ring feature saw him slip from leading the championship, finishing 25 points behind champion Leonardo Fornaroli.
Luke Browning explained how important both Hitech founder and now Alpine boss Oli Oakes has been in his career to date. The Brit also explained the high standards within the squad as well.
“I think Hitech is special because, obviously, for me, they’re my home team. They’re from the UK.
“I have a very good relationship with Oli [Oakes]. He’s been my manager for many years. And, equally, he gave me the opportunity to take out club-level racing.
“So, for me, it’s a massive motivation. And this team deserves a championship on this FIA ladder so badly.
“The professionalism is of that in a Formula 1 team. The workshop is that in a Formula 1 team. You’d eat your dinner off the floor in that place. It’s immaculate.”
Making gains each year and hoping to win both championships
This year will mark a sixth season in F2 for Hitech since they joined the series in 2020. A year before that, they made the move into F3. They have been learning a lot as the years pass.
Last year they secured their personal best results in both championships. Along with Browning’s P3 in the F3 standings, Paul Aron had an impressive rookie campaign at Hitech in F2, also ending up in 3rd. The Estonian has moved to Alpine as a test driver, continuing his relationship with Oakes.
Browning is targeting winning both titles alongside teammate and Ferrari junior Dino Beganovic.
“And I think what’s coming together [for Hitech] is the knowledge, the experience.
“It was 2020 they joined the FIA ladder as the 11th team in Formula 2, they joined F3 first and then into F2 the year after. And they’ve been growing strength by strength.
“Obviously, it’s been up and down years, but I think you look at last year with a rookie and how Paul [Aron] performed, it was standout and it was really exceptional.
“I think now, stepping in with the likes of two rookies that have finished in the top five, top six of Formula 3 consistently over the past two years, there’s a big opportunity to have a really good season. I think testing showed that.
“I’m really looking forward to working with Dino to fight for this title. Not only do I want the drivers, but I want the teams too.”
Progressing throughout the 2025 F2 season
While Browning and Beganovic both did a couple of rounds at the end of the 2024 campaign, the Brit and Swedish drivers form a very new line-up in the series at Hitech this year.
Richard Verschoor, Amaury Cordeel, Victor Martins and Kush Maini are four drivers heading into their third season or more in F2 this time around.
Luke Browning says building up through the season is key against established drivers.
Nonetheless, he was impressed by what Gabriel Bortoleto achieved last year in his rookie campaign. He also praised F2 for how it helps develop drivers for Formula 1.
“I think the biggest thing about Formula 2 is that experience maybe is the biggest factor.
“You have guys that have done multiple years, maybe even three at this point, or going into the third season, and that experience is huge. You look at, for example, Drugovich in his year, he gets to the third season, dominated it.
“It’s very difficult to do that as a rookie. I think that’s what was so outstanding about, for example, Bortoleto’s season last year, was the rate of progression.
“I think that’s the plan for me and Dino, to not necessarily turn up and be the most ballistic straight away and the outright fastest. That’s not necessarily the goal. It’s looking at it as a season overview and seeing how much we can develop through the year.
“That’s what Formula 2 is such a great championship for, is developing drivers up to Formula 1, which is, I think, looking at last year, we’ve got four or five more rookies in Formula 1 that have come straight out of Formula 2.
“To directly answer the question of where do we want to be in the championship, we want to win both titles. I think that’s clear from Paul [Aron]’s performance last year, and for having a driver line-up as strong as me and Dino coming into it.
“I think we’re one of the strongest on the grid and that should be the expectation.”
