Karting

Aitken started his karting career at Buckmore Park Kart Circuit in Kent. He 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.

Formula Renault

Aitken progressed into single-seater car racing in 2012, competing in the four races of the 2012 Formula Renault BARC Winter Series. He won the final race at Rockingham Motor Speedway and finished second in the standings behind Fortec Motorsport teammate Seb Morris. He also 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.

In 2013 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. He finished second in the championship, again losing out to Fortec teammate Parry. Aitken also 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.

Aitken entered his first full season of Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2014 with Fortec.^[7] He won one race at the Hungaroring and finished on the podium three further times to end the season seventh in the championship. During the first half of the campaign, he had to finish his A-Level qualifications while attending Westminster School. He also made guest appearances in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps series, with best finishes of fourth place at the Imola Circuit.

For 2015, Aitken moved to Koiranen GP in Formula Renault 2.0, contesting both the Eurocup and Alps series. He won both titles at the final rounds at the Circuito de Jerez, one week apart. He took nine race wins in total, finishing ahead of Louis Delétraz in the Eurocup and Jake Hughes in the Alps series.^[8]

Pro Mazda Championship

Aitken made his first appearance in American open-wheel racing in 2014, competing in one round of the Pro Mazda Championship (now the Indy Pro 2000 Championship) at the Sonoma Raceway with a best finish of fourth place. In 2015 he took part in the Pro Mazda Winterfest for Team Pelfrey. He 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.

GP3 Series

Formula 2

Renault (2016–2019)

In February 2016, Aitken was one of four drivers confirmed to join the young driver program of Renault F1.^[15] In September 2017, Aitken sampled Formula One machinery for the first time, testing the Lotus E20 at Jerez.^[16] In February 2018, Aitken was appointed as third and reserve driver for Renault.^[17][18] That year, he tested the Renault R.S.18 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya during the young drivers' test.^[19] Another test came at Suzuka where once again he drove the R.S.18.^[20] Aitken continued as test driver for Renault in 2019,^[21] and once again took part in the 2019 young drivers' test at Barcelona.^[22] In February 2020, Aitken left Renault.^[23]

Williams (2020–2022)

For the 2020 season Aitken joined the Williams Driver Academy alongside Formula 2 rivals Dan Ticktum and Roy Nissany, and W Series and Extreme E driver Jamie Chadwick. Aitken was also appointed Williams' reserve driver.^[24] He drove in the first practice session (FP1) of the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix for the team.^[25]

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.^[26] Aitken stated before the event he had been "ready since Melbourne [March]" for such an opportunity.^[27] He chose to race with the car number 89, in reference to a number he previously used in karting.^[26] He qualified for the race in 18th place, within a tenth of a second of teammate and regular driver Nicholas Latifi.^[28][29] 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".^[30]

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.^[31]

In March 2021, Williams announced that Aitken would continue to be their reserve driver for the 2021 season.^[32] He took part in FP1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, replacing Russell for the session.^[33]

Aitken retained his reserve driver role with Williams for the 2022 season.^[34] He 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.^[35]

2021 season: First endurance racing season and serious crash

After leaving Campos in Formula 2, Aitken switched to sports car racing and joined the GT World Challenge Europe. He competes in both the Endurance and Sprint cups, driving a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo for Emil Frey Racing alongside Konsta Lappalainen. His first race was the 3 Hours of Monza, for which Aitken and his teammates qualified 14th. However, Aitken did not drive in the race as the car was retired following damage from a puncture.^[36]

In July 2021 during the Spa 24 Hours event, Aitken was involved in a massive crash along with 3 other drivers. He 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. Aitken was taken to hospital where he stayed overnight.^[37] His injuries were described as non life-threatening though serious and it was later revealed that he had sustained "a broken collarbone, a fractured vertebra ... and a very small lung contusion".^[38][39]

2022 season: First Le Mans race

In 2022 Aitken moved to the ADAC GT Masters, racing with Albert Costa for Emil Frey Racing.^[5]

In 2022, Aitken competed in the LMP2 Pro-Am class for Racing Team Turkey alongside Charlie Eastwood and Salih Yoluç. Aitken and his team ended up finishing 11th in the standings.

For the 2022 season, Aitken also raced exclusively in the endurance rounds of the championship, pairing up with Mirko Bortolotti and Albert Costa in the same Emil Frey Racing Lamborghini. He finished 13th and 6th in the first two races, held in Imola and Paul Ricard respectively. In the 24 Hours of Spa, after a crash for Costa, Aitken failed to finish the race.

Aitken made his 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 2022 edition, competing for Algarve Pro Racing alongside Sophia Flörsch and John Falb. The trio finished 25th overall, 20th in the LMP2 class and 5th in the Pro-Am sub class.

2023 season: GTP and first DTM season

For the 2023 season, Aitken would perform double-duties in America and Europe, racing the new Cadillac V-LMDh in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Whelen Engineering Racing whilst also contesting the DTM with Emil Frey Racing. He won the 12 Hours of Sebring March 18 after the GTP cars in front of him crashed into each other with only minutes left in the race.^[4][40]

2024 season: Full-time IMSA driver and return to DTM

In August 2023, it was announced that Aitken would be a full-time IMSA driver in 2024 for Action Express Racing alongside Pipo Derani.^[41] He also returned to DTM for 2024 with Emil Frey Racing.^[42]

Karting career summary

Racing career summary

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

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results

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

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

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

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Alps results

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

Pro Mazda Championship

Complete GP3 Series results

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

Complete Formula V8 3.5 Series results

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

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)

^† 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.

Complete Formula One results

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup results

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

^* Season still in progress.

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup results

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

Complete ADAC GT Masters results

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

^* Season still in progress.

Complete European Le Mans Series results

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

^* Season still in progress.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

More information Year, Team ...

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2022	Algarve Pro Racing	Sophia Flörsch John Falb	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	361	25th	20th
				LMP2 Pro-Am			5th
2023	Action Express Racing	Pipo Derani Alexander Sims	Cadillac V-Series.R	Hypercar	324	17th	10th

Close

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

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

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

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