Jack Aitken, who has been a Williams reserve driver since 2020, will not continue in the role for 2023, the team has confirmed.
The 27-year-old has acted as a reserve driver for the Grove-based team since 2020 and stepped into George Russell’s seat for a one-off race appearance in that year’s Sakhir Grand Prix.
The team confirmed to RaceFans that Aitken will not continue in the role for 2023 and will no longer be a member of the team’s driver academy.
Aitken raced in Formula 2 full time between 2018 and 2020 and ran nine races with the HWA team in 2021. That year, he moved into sportscar racing in the GT class with Emil Frey in the GT World Challenge European series in both the endurance and sprint competitions. In that year’s Spa 24 Hours, Aitken suffered fractured vertebrae and collarbone in a horrific early-race accident in which his Lamborghini Huracan was struck several times after crashing at Raidillon.
Last year he moved into LMP2 class racing, competing in the Le Mans 24 Hours with the Algarve Pro Racing team and racing in the European Le Mans Series with Racing Team Turkey.
Williams have also confirmed their academy drivers for 2023. Among them is three-time W Series champion and Andretti Indy Nxt driver Jamie Chadwick, Formula 2 racer Zak O’Sullivan and FIA Formula 3 drivers Ollie Gray and Franco Colapinto.
Former academy driver Logan Sargeant has been promoted into the Williams F1 team for this season, alongside Alexander Albon. Sargeant will embark on his rookie season in 2023 and will be the first full-time American driver to race in the world championship since Scott Speed in 2007 and the first American to race in Formula 1 since Alexander Rossi completed the final races with Manor in 2015.
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