Jack Aitken has confirmed that he has left his role as test driver for Williams Racing and has switched his attention to making a career in sportscar racing.
The Anglo-Korean driver competed in one Grand Prix for Williams, racing in place of George Russell for the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix when the Briton was brought in by the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team in place of the COVID-19-hit Lewis Hamilton.
Aitken then spent the next two years as part of the Williams Development line-up, but with no full-time seat opening up for him within the Grove-based team – both Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant are reportedly on multi-year contracts – he has called time on his role.
“We’ve mutually decided to part ways,” said Aitken to Motorsport.com ahead of his recent Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona debut with the Action Express Cadillac outfit.
“I kept an involvement last year, which was great. I really like the team and I’m based half-an-hour away from the factory, so it was very convenient to do simulator work and I was happy to help and attend some races.
“But my calendar is too busy these days. I want to focus on my racing programme and on where my career is going, which is in sportscar racing.
“They’ve been very supportive of that, and equally they’ve got younger guys coming through their academy, and they want to give them seat time and time in the sim. It just made sense.”
Despite not fulfilling his ambition of racing full-time in Formula 1, Aitken does not have any regrets about stepping away from single seaters to focus on sportscar racing. And the twenty-seven-year-old is now eager to see how far he can take his sportscar career.
“It’s a great thing to chase, and I had a great time doing it,” said Aitken. “I was one of the lucky few not just to start a race but just to drive the cars.
“Of course that wasn’t what I was there for, I was there to try and be on the grid full-time and become champion, but for whatever reason, with the way my single-seater career went, it didn’t work out, and that’s fine.
“I’m very happy chasing something in sportscars now and I’m lucky and I can ride that wave, and I’m excited to see how far I can take it.”
Aitken’s plans beyond the four endurance races in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship have yet to be determined, while a second attack of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023 has not been ruled out. He made his La Sarthe debut in 2022 in the LMP2 class with Algarve Pro Racing.