Jack Aitken is a British-South Korean racing driver who currently competes for Racing Team Turkey in the European Le Mans Series and for Emil Frey Racing in the ADAC GT Masters and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
61 Facts About Jack Aitken
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Jack Aitken was a former reserve driver for Williams Racing in Formula One, having previously been part of the Renault Sport Academy and Williams Driver Academy.
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Jack Aitken made the transition to cars when he competed in the Intersteps Championship with Fortec Motorsport, with whom he then went on to race with in the Formula Renault BARC Winter Series, Formula Renault NEC and Formula Renault Eurocup.
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Jack Aitken has been Williams F1's reserve driver since 2020, and raced for the team at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, replacing George Russell, who, in turn, replaced Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes for the event.
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Jack Aitken started his karting career at Buckmore Park Kart Circuit in Kent.
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Jack Aitken competed in the 2010 Super 1 National Kart Championships in the Rotax Mini Max class, finishing third behind champion and future Formula 2 teammate George Russell.
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Jack Aitken progressed into single-seater car racing in 2012, competing in the four races of the 2012 Formula Renault BARC Winter Series.
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Jack Aitken won the final race at Rockingham Motor Speedway and finished second in the standings behind Fortec Motorsport teammate Seb Morris.
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Jack Aitken competed for Fortec in the 2012 Dunlop InterSteps Championship, taking two wins to finish third in the championship behind future GP3 Series competitor Matt Parry.
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In 2013 Jack Aitken competed in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup, in a field which included future Formula One drivers Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon.
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Jack Aitken finished second in the championship, again losing out to Fortec teammate Parry.
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Jack Aitken appeared as a guest driver in three rounds of the main Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 series, recording a best finish of ninth place at the Red Bull Ring.
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Jack Aitken entered his first full season of Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2014 with Fortec.
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Jack Aitken won one race at the Hungaroring and finished on the podium three further times to end the season seventh in the championship.
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Jack Aitken made guest appearances in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps series, with best finishes of fourth place at the Imola Circuit.
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For 2015, Jack Aitken moved to Koiranen GP in Formula Renault 2.0, contesting both the Eurocup and Alps series.
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Jack Aitken won both titles at the final rounds at the Circuito de Jerez, one week apart.
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Jack Aitken took nine race wins in total, finishing ahead of Louis Deletraz in the Eurocup and Jake Hughes in the Alps series.
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Jack Aitken made his first appearance in American open-wheel racing in 2014, competing in one round of the Pro Mazda Championship at the Sonoma Raceway with a best finish of fourth place.
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Jack Aitken won three of the five races to win the championship ahead of future IndyCar driver Dalton Kellett and future Williams Formula One teammate Nicholas Latifi.
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In January 2016, Jack Aitken stepped up to the GP3 Series with Arden International.
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In that year, Jack Aitken made brief appearances in the Euroformula Open and Formula V8 3.5 series, claiming two wins and two pole positions in four races in Euroformula Open and a pole position in Formula V8 3.5.
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In February 2017, it was announced that Jack Aitken would remain in the GP3 Series, switching to reigning team champions ART Grand Prix.
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Jack Aitken took one race win at the Hungaroring and five further podium finishes, finishing second in the championship with 141 points, behind champion and former karting rival George Russell on 220 points.
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In January 2018, ART Grand Prix announced Jack Aitken would join their Formula 2 team for the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship, again partnering Russell.
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Jack Aitken took his first podium finish with second place in the Baku feature race, and later took his first victory in the Barcelona sprint race.
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Jack Aitken finished 11th in the championship with 63 points, whilst Russell claimed the title with 287 points.
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Jack Aitken took his first win of the season, and Campos Racing's first win in Formula 2, at the Baku feature race.
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Jack Aitken won his home sprint race at Silverstone, after overtaking Louis Deletraz on lap 17.
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Jack Aitken won the Monza sprint race after defending from the MP Motorsport car of Jordan King.
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King criticised Jack Aitken's defensive driving as he claimed after the race that Jack Aitken was weaving down the straight.
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Jack Aitken finished fifth in the standings, scoring 159 of Campos' 189 points and helping them to finish fifth in the teams' championship.
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Jack Aitken took a double-podium finish at the second Silverstone round, finishing third in both the feature race and sprint race.
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Jack Aitken was involved in a high-speed collision with Luca Ghiotto on lap seven of the sprint race at Sochi Autodrom.
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Jack Aitken missed the final round at the Bahrain International Circuit to race in Formula One, and was replaced by Ralph Boschung.
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Jack Aitken finished 14th in the standings, scoring all of Campos' 48 points.
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Jack Aitken left Campos and the Formula 2 series after 2020, however he returned during the 2021 season with HWA Racelab as a replacement for Matteo Nannini, who withdrew from the championship after the first round.
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Jack Aitken was initially signed for the second and third rounds in Monaco and Baku respectively and was later retained for the fourth round at Silverstone.
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Jack Aitken recorded a best finish of ninth place in the second Monaco sprint race, but failed to score points over the three rounds.
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Jack Aitken competes in both the Endurance and Sprint cups, driving a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo for Emil Frey Racing alongside Konsta Lappalainen.
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However, Jack Aitken did not drive in the race as the car was retired following damage from a puncture.
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In July 2021 during the Spa 24 Hours event, Jack Aitken was involved in a crash along with 3 other drivers.
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Jack Aitken crashed into the barrier after Raidillon, bounced back onto the track and came to a stop before being hit from behind by another driver which caused two further cars to become entangled in the accident.
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Jack Aitken finished 13th and 6th in the first two races, held in Imola and Paul Ricard respectively.
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In February 2016, Jack Aitken was one of four drivers confirmed to join the young driver program of Renault F1.
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In September 2017, Jack Aitken sampled Formula One machinery for the first time, testing the Lotus E20 at Jerez.
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In February 2018, Jack Aitken was appointed as third and reserve driver for Renault.
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Jack Aitken continued as test driver for Renault in 2019, and took part in the 2019 young drivers' test at Barcelona.
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Jack Aitken drove in the first practice session of the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix for the team.
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Jack Aitken made his Formula One debut as a race driver with Williams at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix as a replacement for George Russell, who was promoted to Mercedes following Lewis Hamilton's positive coronavirus test.
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Jack Aitken chose to race with the car number 89, in reference to a number he previously used in karting.
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On lap 61 of 87,15th-placed Jack Aitken spun at the final corner, colliding with a barrier and breaking off his front wing.
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Jack Aitken returned to the pits for a replacement and was able to continue the race, eventually finishing 16th.
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Jack Aitken performed Thursday media duties with Williams ahead of the next race in Abu Dhabi but ultimately did not drive the car, as Russell returned to the team prior to FP1 when Hamilton was passed fit to return to Mercedes.
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In March 2021, Williams announced that Jack Aitken would continue to be their reserve driver for the 2021 season.
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Jack Aitken took part in FP1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, replacing Russell for the session.
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Jack Aitken retained his reserve driver role with Williams for the 2022 season.
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Jack Aitken did not partake in any practice sessions that year, and at the start of 2023, he was announced that he would split with Williams, in order to focus on his sportscar career.
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In 2022 Jack Aitken moved to the ADAC GT Masters, racing with Albert Costa for Emil Frey Racing.
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Jack Aitken made his 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 2022 edition, competing for Algarve Pro Racing alongside Sophia Florsch and John Falb.
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Jack Aitken joined Envision Racing in Formula E to partake in the rookie test at the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit during late April 2023.