Williams has confirmed that reserve driver and Academy member Luke Browning will complete the team's final two mandated rookie FP1 sessions at the Mexican and Brazilian Grands Prix - driving Alex Albon's FW48 in Mexico before taking over Carlos Sainz's car in Brazil.

He will step into the FW48 for the first time since the introduction of the lightweight chassis upgrade in Baku, giving him a first-hand understanding of the new package and what it brings in terms of performance and learning. The knowledge he gains from these outings will feed directly into his simulator work, supporting the team's progress behind the scenes.

With these final two sessions, Browning will have driven in all four of Williams' mandated FP1 rookie sessions this season, which is a mark of the team's trust in him, his progression as a driver, and part of Williams' proud tradition of giving young talent a pathway into F1. The Driver Academy supports drivers on every rung of the motorsport ladder, bringing emerging drivers into the programme and supporting each driver as they advance toward the highest levels of competition.

This year, Browning has taken on the role of reserve driver while racing for Team Kondo Racing in Super Formula, Japan's premier single-seater series and widely considered the second-fastest in the world behind Formula 1.

As reserve, Browning plays an important role in helping to push the team forward in the sport's new regulations era. In addition to race weekend stand-by duties, he continues to help develop the car through data analysis and simulator work.

"I'm happy to be back in the FW48 and grateful to be trusted by Williams with all four rookie FP1 sessions this year," said Browning. "It's a great opportunity to get more laps in the car, while building my understanding of the new package and bringing useful data and feedback back to Grove. Each session teaches you something new, and I will take every bit of learning I can from this to help keep pushing my development and the team forward."

"Luke continues to prove himself as a valuable part of the team, both through his simulator work and his performances on track," added Sven Smeets, the Grove outfit's Sporting Director. "Giving him the chance to get behind the wheel of the FW48 across two race weekends is an important step in his development and a natural progression.

"It's valuable for us to have consistency in the driver across all four of our rookie test sessions, as it allows us to improve the correlation between the data we gather on track and our simulator work. We have a talented group of young drivers in the Williams F1 Team Driver Academy, and we're pleased to continue providing opportunities like this to support their progression and development."