Aitken unsure of future, reluctant to stay in F2

Jack Aitken doesn’t have any future plans set in stone but isn’t too keen on spending another season on the Formula 2 grid.

The 25-year-old spent 2020 as a reserve driver for Williams in Formula 1 whilst also driving for Campos Racing in his third F2 season.

It proved to be his least successful campaign yet in the category as he finished in P14 with two podiums and no wins to his name.

Looking ahead to 2021, he says he doesn’t feel that he can learn any more from the series and would only be willing to return if he can win the title, but is more interested in expanding his role with Williams.

“We’re looking at a lot of options and I’ve sort of spent enough time in F2 to learn what I need to learn in that series,” he said via Crash.net.

“It is a shame that I couldn’t have capitalised this year a bit more and had a good result but I think my performances have been very good. If I was to come back, then I’d only want to do so with a view to winning the championship.

“I’ve had a great year with Williams and obviously we are having conversations as well, but again, not in a position to announce anything just yet.

“I would think that it’s been a really good year, Bahrain was obviously a highlight, but doing my first FP1 with the team as well was something quite special. Overall we’ve had a good year together so I’m thankful for that.”

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Williams handed Aitken his F1 debut in 2020 as he stood in for George Russell in every session of the Sakhir Grand Prix, also driving in FP1 at the Styrian Grand Prix.

He joined the British team at the end of the 2019 season after being part of the Renault setup for two seasons, and given his increased responsibility and involvement, is happy with his decision.

“I felt it was the right time to move on and there were opportunities at Williams that there weren’t at Renault,” he added.

“I think being a reserve driver was clearly something I wanted to achieve and to get in the F1 practices as well.

“Williams have shown a lot of faith by putting me in the car and they’ve been nothing but supportive since I got here. It’s been a great experience and I’m just as happy now as I was at the start of the year.”

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