| Jack Aitken | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:Jack Aitken.png | ||
| Driver Details | ||
| Nationality |  British/Korean
| |
| Date of Birth | 23 September 1995 | |
| Experience | Formula One Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | |
| Formula E Career | ||
| Tests | 2 | |
| Début |  2023 Rookie Test
| |
Jack Aitken (born 23 September 1995 in London, UK) is an Anglo-Korean racing driver, who served as a test driver for Envision Racing during the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship for Envision Racing.[1] A one time Formula One starter and veteran of the FIA Formula 2 Championship, Aitken made his FE debut at the 2023 Rookie Test, finishing down the field after having to complete a compromised running plan.[2]
Background[]
Aitken's racing career began in karting, where the Anglo-Korean racer competed in various competitions in the southeast of England until graduating to single-seaters in the winter of 2012, entering the Formula Renault BARC Winter Series.[3] Finishing third, Aitken moved to the European Formula Renault theatre in 2013, and would continue to compete at that level over the next two seasons, eventually claiming the FR Eurocup, FR 2.0 Alps and Pro Mazda Winterfest titles in 2015.[3] Those feats earned Aitken his first step on the FIA ladder with a seat in the Jack Aitken in 2016, where the Anglo-Korean pilot earned one victory en-route to fifth in the final standings, as well as a spot in the Renault Sport Academy.[3][4]
Formula Thoughts: 2017 - 2021[]
Aitken completed a second GP3 Series campaign in 2017, and partnered with George Russell would duly finish second to his teammate in the final championship standings, earning both a promotion to the FIA Formula 2 Championship for the 2018 season.[3] His rookie F2 campaign saw Aitken claim one win and eleventh in the standings as teammate Russell swept to the title, resulting in a change of team and sophomore campaign in F2 for 2019 for the Anglo-Korean pilot.[3] Three victories that season saw Aitken jump to fifth in the Championship, although he was never a realistic title contender, and saw Aitken lose his Renault Sport Academy backing.[3]
Regardless, Aitken would secure a third season in F2 in 2020, as well as a test/reserve role for Williams Racing in Formula One, although the Brit would again fail to emerge as a title-pretender and even failed to register a race win for the first time since 2014.[3] The Anglo-Korean pilot would, however, make his F1 debut towards the end of the season, filing in for Russell at Williams at the penultimate round of the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship in Sakhir, Bahrain, finishing sixteenth after a spin that damaged his front wing.[3] Unfortunately for Aitken his cameo would not earn him a seat in F1 for 2021, with the Anglo-Korean racer instead switching to GT racing for 2021, although Williams retained Aitken as their test/reserve driver.[3]
GTs and WECs: 2022 - Present[]
Aitken's first GT campaign saw him enter the GT World Challenge Europe without major success, as well as complete a three round cameo in FIA F2, again without threatening the podium at all.[3] The 2022 season saw some improvement, with Aitken finishing fourth in the ADAC GT Masters as his main programme, while also making his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut, finishing twentieth overall, and secure the runner-up spot in the Pro-Am cup class of the European Le Mans Series.[3] 2023 saw Aitken join the factory Cadillac programme in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for their endurance races, combined with a second Le Mans appearance, as well as a maiden campaign in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters with Emil Frey Racing as his main programme.[3]
Formula E History[]
Aitken was among the first drivers to be announced for the 2023 Rookie Test, as Envision Racing moved quickly to offer him a seat for the one day test following the inclusion of the session to the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship schedule.[1] The Brit was initially meant to complete the test in Sébastien Buemi's #16 Jaguar I-Type 6, although damage to the Swiss pilot's car sustained during the 2023 Berlin E-Prix II meant that Aitken instead had to share the #37 car of Nick Cassidy with fellow rookie tester Jonny Edgar.[1] As a result Aitken's test was compromised and led to him only completing the morning session, meaning he finished the test down in 21st overall on outright pace, although he was three tenths faster than Edgar who ran in the quicker afternoon session.[2]
Aitken was handed another chance to sample an FE car by Envision later in the season, having been selected by the Anglo-Chinese squad to run in FP0 at the 2023 Rome E-Prix I where teams were again mandated to run a rookie driver.[5]
Full Formula E Record[]
Shown below are a series of tables outlining Jack Aitken's career in Formula E in statistical form:
| Jack Aitken's Formula E Test Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Role |
| 2022/23 | Envision Racing[1]
|
37 | Jaguar I-Type 6 | Test Driver |
See Also[]
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See related content on the Formula One Wiki |
| Jack Aitken |
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See related content on the Formula 2 Wiki |
| Jack Aitken |
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See related content on the DTM Wiki |
| Jack Aitken |
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References[]
Videos and Images:
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Nick Golding, 'Envision Racing Announce Ex-F1 Driver Jack Aitken for Formula E Rookie Test', thecheckeredflag.co.uk, (The Checkered Flag, 05/04/2023), https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2023/04/envision-racing-announce-ex-f1-driver-jack-aitken-for-formula-e-rookie-test/, (Accessed 05/04/2023)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 'Drugovich fastest at Berlin Rookie Test', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 24/04/2023), https://fiaformulae.com/en/news/419335/drugovic-fastest-at-berlin-rookie-test, (Accessed 19/06/2023)
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 'Jack Aitken', driverdb.com, (DriverDB AB, 2023), https://www.driverdb.com/drivers/jack-aitken, (Accessed 02/07/2023)
- ↑ Peter Allen, 'Renault names Ocon as F1 reserve, plus four-man academy', formulascout.com, (Formula Scout, 03/02/2016), https://formulascout.com/renault-names-ocon-as-f1-reserve-plus-four-man-academy/33208, (Accessed 02/07/2023)
- ↑ 'Fresh faces set for Free Practice session in Rome', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 15/06/2023), https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/425534/fresh-faces-set-for-free-practice-session-in-rome, (Accessed 01/07/2023)