Jack Aitken

Jack Aitken (Korean: 한세용, Han Se-yong; born 23 September 1995 in London) is a British-Korean[2] racing driver currently competing in Formula 2 for Campos Racing.[3] Born in London to a Scottish father and Korean mother, Aitken began his career in karting at Buckmore Park, aged 7. He 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. After winning the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2015, Aitken was signed up for the Renault young driver academy, with which he remained until 2019. After competing in the GP3 Series in 2016 and 2017 he progressed to Formula 2 for 2018. He is also the reserve driver for the Williams Formula One team, for whom he raced at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, replacing George Russell, who, in turn, replaced Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes for the event.

Jack Aitken

Aitken in 2018
Born	23 September 1995 London, United Kingdom
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
Active years	2020
Teams	Williams
Car number	89
Entries	1 (1 start)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	2020 Sakhir Grand Prix
Last entry	2020 Sakhir Grand Prix
2020 position	22nd (0 pts)
FIA Formula 2 Championship career
Debut season	2018
Current team	Campos Racing
Car number	9
Former teams	ART Grand Prix
Starts	67 (70 entries)
Wins	4
Podiums	11
Poles	1[lower-alpha 1]
Fastest laps	3
Best finish	5th in 2019
Previous series
2016–2017 2015 2015	GP3 Series Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 Alps
Championship titles
2015 2015 2015	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Pro Mazda Winterfest

Career

Karting

Aitken started his career karting, at Buckmore Park in Kent.

Formula Renault Eurocup

Aitken entered his first full season of Formula Renault Eurocup in 2014[4] with Fortec Motorsports. He won one race at the Hungaroring, and finished on the podium four times. During the first half of the campaign, he had to finish off his A Levels while attending Westminster School. At the start of 2015, he moved to Koiranen GP for the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season.

Aitken won the title at the final round in Jerez, after winning the Formula Renault Alps title at the same track one week previously.[5]

Formula Renault Alps

In 2015, Aitken entered the Formula Renault Alps Championship, alongside his campaign in Formula Renault Eurocup. He won this title at the final round in Jerez.

GP3 Series

In January 2016, it was announced Aitken would step up to the series with Arden International. In his maiden season, he claimed a victory in the second race Spa-Francorchamps and claimed six additional podiums to finish fifth in the overall standings. In February 2017, it was announced that Aitken would remain in the series, switching to team champions ART Grand Prix. That year he finished second in the championship, albeit a long distance behind his teammate George Russell.

Formula 2

In January 2018, ART Grand Prix announced Aitken would join their Formula 2 team for the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship, again partnering George Russell.[6] He took his first podium finish with second place in the Baku feature race, and later took his first victory in the Barcelona sprint race.[7] He finished 11th in the championship with 63 points.

For the 2019 season Aitken moved to Campos Racing, initially partnering Dorian Boccolacci and later Arjun Maini and Marino Sato.[8] Aitken took his first win of the season, and Campos Racing's first win in Formula 2, at the Baku feature race. He also won his home sprint race at Silverstone, after overtaking Louis Delétraz on lap 17. Aitken also won the Monza sprint race after defending from the MP Motorsport car of Jordan King. King criticised Aitken's defensive driving as he claimed after the race that Aitken was weaving down the straight. He finished 5th in the standings, scoring 159 of Campos' 189 points, helping them to finish 5th in the teams' championship.

Aitken remained at Campos for 2020, partnering Guilherme Samaia. Aitken took a double-podium finish at the second Silverstone round, finishing third in both the feature race and sprint race. He was involved in a high-speed collision with Luca Ghiotto on lap seven of the sprint race at Sochi Autodrom. Both drivers were uninjured, but damage to the barriers caused the race to be red-flagged and not restarted.[9]

Formula One

In February 2016, Aitken was one of four drivers confirmed to join the young driver program of Renault F1. In September 2017, Aitken sampled Formula One machinery for the first time, testing the Lotus E20 at Jerez. In February 2018, Aitken was appointed as third and reserve driver for Renault.[2][10] For 2019, Aitken was confirmed to continue as test driver for Renault.[11] For the 2020 season Aitken joined the Williams Driver Academy alongside Formula 2 rivals Dan Ticktum and Roy Nissany. Aitken will serve as the team's reserve driver.[12] He drove in the first practice session of the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix for the team, replacing George Russell.[13]

Williams (2020)

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.[14] Aitken stated before the event he had been "ready since Melbourne [March]" for such an opportunity.[15] He chose to race with the car number 89, in reference to a number he previously used in karting.[14] He qualified for the race in 18th place, within a tenth of a second of teammate and regular driver Nicholas Latifi.[16][17] On lap 61 of 87, 15th-placed Aitken spun at the final corner, colliding with a barrier and breaking off his front wing. He returned to the pits for a replacement and was able to continue the race, eventually finishing 16th. He later remarked that he had mixed feelings about the race, stating "I think we were doing a really good job up until my little incident. I can only apologise to the whole team", but that there were "a lot of positives to take from the weekend".[18]

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 the first practice session when Hamilton was passed fit to return to Mercedes.[19]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	FLaps	Podiums	Points	Position
2012	Dunlop Intersteps Championship	Fortec Motorsports	23	2	2	3	13	490	3rd
2013	Formula Renault 2.0 NEC		16	0	1	1	5	230	2nd
	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0		2	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
		Manor MP Motorsport	4	0	0	0	0
2014	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0	Fortec Motorsports	14	1	1	0	4	86	7th
	Formula Renault 2.0 Alps		8	0	0	1	0	0	NC†
	Pro Mazda Championship	Team Pelfrey	2	0	0	0	0	31	20th
2015	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0	Koiranen GP	17	5	4	3	3	206	1st
	Formula Renault 2.0 Alps		15	4	3	3	7	242	1st
	Pro Mazda Winterfest	Team Pelfrey	5	3	1	2	4	167	1st
2016	GP3 Series	Arden International	18	1	0	2	7	148	5th
	Euroformula Open Championship	RP Motorsport	4	2	2	1	3	71	8th
	Spanish Formula 3 Championship		2	1	1	1	1	27	7th
	Formula V8 3.5 Series		4	0	1	0	0	14	15th
2017	GP3 Series	ART Grand Prix	15	1	2	2	6	141	2nd
2018	FIA Formula 2 Championship		23	1	0	0	2	63	11th
2019	FIA Formula 2 Championship	Campos Racing	22	3	1[lower-alpha 2]	2	7	159	5th
2020	FIA Formula 2 Championship	Campos Racing	22			1	2	48	14th
	Formula One	Williams Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0	22nd

^† As Aitken was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Pro Mazda Championship

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Rank	Points
2014	Team Pelfrey	STP	STP	BAR	BAR	IMS	IMS	LOR	HOU	HOU	MOH	MOH	MIL	SON 9	SON 4	20th	31

Complete GP3 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos	Points
2016	Arden International	CAT FEA 20	CAT SPR 19	RBR FEA 9	RBR SPR 5	SIL FEA 13	SIL SPR 6	HUN FEA 9	HUN SPR 6	HOC FEA 6	HOC SPR 2	SPA FEA 5	SPA SPR 1	MNZ FEA 2	MNZ SPR 5	SEP FEA 2	SEP SPR 3	YMC FEA 3	YMC SPR 2	5th	148
2017	ART Grand Prix	CAT FEA Ret	CAT SPR 12	RBR FEA 2	RBR SPR 5	SIL FEA 4	SIL SPR 2	HUN FEA 1	HUN SPR Ret	SPA FEA 2	SPA SPR 18	MNZ FEA 2	MNZ SPR C	JER FEA 3	JER SPR 6	YMC FEA 14	YMC SPR 8			2nd	141

Complete Formula V8 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos	Points
2016	RP Motorsport	ALC 1	ALC 2	HUN 1	HUN 2	SPA 1	SPA 2	LEC 1	LEC 2	SIL 1	SIL 2	RBR 1	RBR 2	MNZ 1	MNZ 2	JER 1 DSQ	JER 2 4	CAT 1 11	CAT 2 9	15th	14

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	DC	Points
2018	ART Grand Prix	BHR FEA 9	BHR SPR 18	BAK FEA 2	BAK SPR 11	CAT FEA 6	CAT SPR 1	MON FEA 7	MON SPR Ret	LEC FEA 11	LEC SPR DNS	RBR FEA Ret	RBR SPR 18	SIL FEA 13	SIL SPR 12	HUN FEA 4	HUN SPR 10	SPA FEA 11	SPA SPR 10	MNZ FEA 17†	MNZ SPR 8	SOC FEA 14	SOC SPR Ret	YMC FEA 10	YMC SPR 13	11th	63
2019	Campos Racing	BHR FEA 7	BHR SPR 11	BAK FEA 1	BAK SPR 3	CAT FEA 2	CAT SPR 8	MON FEA 17†	MON SPR 13	LEC FEA 3	LEC SPR 4	RBR FEA 10	RBR SPR 18	SIL FEA 5	SIL SPR 1	HUN FEA 3	HUN SPR 5	SPA FEA C	SPA SPR C	MNZ FEA 8	MNZ SPR 1	SOC FEA 7	SOC SPR 11	YMC FEA 11	YMC SPR 10	5th	159
2020	Campos Racing	RBR FEA 15	RBR SPR 8	RBR FEA 9	RBR SPR 6	HUN FEA 13	HUN SPR 19	SIL FEA 13	SIL SPR 8	SIL FEA 3	SIL SPR 3	CAT FEA 18†	CAT SPR 18	SPA FEA 13	SPA SPR 17	MNZ FEA 13	MNZ SPR 7	MUG FEA Ret	MUG SPR 13	SOC FEA 6	SOC SPR 4	BHR FEA 10	BHR SPR 17†	BHR FEA	BHR SPR	14th	48

^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
^‡ Half points were awarded as less than 75% of the scheduled race distance was completed.
^* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula One results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
2020	Williams Racing	Williams FW43	Mercedes F1 M11 EQ Performance 1.6 V6 t	AUT	STY TD	HUN	GBR	70A	ESP	BEL	ITA	TUS	RUS	EIF	POR	EMI	TUR	BHR	SKH 16	ABU	22nd	0

Notes

1. 0 poles achieved during qualifying, and 1 pole given as a result of the reverse grid in the sprint race.[1]
2. Pole given as a result of the reverse grid in the sprint race.[1]

References

1. "Formula 2 poles". results.motorsportstats.com. Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
2. "Drivers – Jack Aitken". Renault Sport. Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
3. "Aitken moves to Campos for 2019 F2 season". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. "Formula Renault Eurocup - Press release - 2015, an exceptional year in Formula Renault 2.0 - renaultsport.com". Renault Sport.
6. Horton, Phillip. "Formula 2: Jack Aitken expects to be among F2 leaders from the outset". Motorsport Week. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
7. Horton, Phillip. "Formula 2: Renault tester Jack Aitken takes maiden F2 victory in Barcelona Sprint Race". Motorsport Week. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
8. Horton, Phillip. "Formula 2: Jack Aitken secures switch to Campos for 2019". Motorsport Week. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
9. Allen, Peter (27 September 2020). "Zhou takes first F2 win in Sochi sprint race cut short by huge crash". formulascout.com. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
10. Barretto, Lawrence (20 February 2018). "Renault F1 team gives reserve driver role to Jack Aitken". Autosport. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
11. Horton, Phillip. "Formula 1: Sergey Sirotkin secures Renault F1 reserve role, F2's Jack Aitken as tester". Motorsport Week. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
12. "Aitken joins Williams as reserve driver after leaving Renault". formula1.com. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
13. Cooper, Adam. "Aitken gets Williams FP1 outing for F1 Styrian GP at Red Bull Ring". Autosport.com. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
14. "F2 racer Jack Aitken to make F1 debut with Williams at Sakhir Grand Prix, replacing Russell". Formula1.com. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
15. "Aitken has been 'ready since Melbourne' for F1 debut". 2 December 2020.
16. "Sakhir Grand Prix Qualifying". www.williamsf1.com. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
17. "Sakhir GP: Bottas beats Russell to pole by 0.026s". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
18. "'Gutted' Aitken 'desperate to have another go' with Williams after race-defining shunt". formula1.com. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
19. "Hamilton to return for Abu Dhabi GP". Retrieved 11 December 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.

External links

• Official website
• Jack Aitken career summary at DriverDB.com