Born and raised in London to a Scottish father and South Korean mother, Aitken holds dual British and South Korean citizenship. He started his karting career at Buckmore Park Kart Circuit in Kent aged seven.
Aitken progressed into single-seater car racing in 2012, competing in four races of the 2012 Formula Renault BARC Winter Series with Fortec Motorsport. He won the final race at Rockingham Motor Speedway and finished second in the standings. He also competed for Fortec in the 2012 Dunlop InterSteps Championship, taking two wins to finish third in the championship.
In 2013, Aitken competed in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup, finishing second to Fortec teammate Matt Parry. He also appeared as a guest driver in three rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 series, recording a best finish of ninth place at the Red Bull Ring. He continued with Fortec in 2014, winning one race at the Hungaroring in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and finishing seventh in the championship.
Aitken achieved success in 2015, moving to Koiranen GP and winning both the Eurocup and Alps Formula Renault 2.0 titles at the final rounds at Jerez. He took nine race wins in total, finishing ahead of Louis Delétraz in the Eurocup and Jake Hughes in the Alps series. He also won the Pro Mazda Winterfest with Team Pelfrey, winning the championship after winning three of the five races.
In January 2016, Aitken stepped up to the GP3 Series with Arden International. In his maiden season, he claimed a victory at Spa-Francorchamps and six additional podiums to finish fifth in the overall standings, one point behind teammate Jake Dennis. He also made brief appearances in the Euroformula Open and Formula V8 3.5 series, claiming two wins and two pole positions in four races in Euroformula Open and a pole position in Formula V8 3.5. In February 2017, Aitken remained in the GP3 Series, switching to reigning team champions ART Grand Prix. He took one race win at the Hungaroring and five further podium finishes, finishing second in the championship with 141 points, behind champion George Russell on 220 points.
Aitken progressed to Formula 2 in 2018 with ART Grand Prix, partnering Russell. He took his first podium finish with second place in the Baku feature race, and later took his first victory in the Barcelona sprint race. He finished 11th in the championship with 63 points, while Russell claimed the title with 287 points. In 2019, he moved to Campos Racing, winning the Baku feature race and his home sprint race at Silverstone. He also won the Monza sprint race, though his defensive driving was criticised by rival Jordan King. Aitken finished fifth in the standings, scoring 159 of Campos’ 189 points.
He remained at Campos for 2020, taking a double-podium finish at Silverstone. Aitken was involved in a high-speed collision with Luca Ghiotto at Sochi, causing the race to be red-flagged. He missed the final round in Bahrain to make his Formula One debut with Williams, replacing George Russell, who in turn replaced Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. Aitken qualified 18th at the Sakhir Grand Prix and finished 16th after a spin and subsequent front wing replacement.
Aitken continued as Williams’ reserve driver in 2021, taking part in FP1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He briefly returned to Formula 2 with HWA Racelab, but failed to score points. He retained his reserve driver role with Williams for 2022 before leaving the team in 2023 to focus on his sportscar career.
After leaving Formula 2, Aitken transitioned to sports car racing, competing in the GT World Challenge Europe with Emil Frey Racing. He was involved in a significant crash at the Spa 24 Hours in 2021, sustaining a broken collarbone, a fractured vertebra, and a lung contusion. In 2022, he competed in the ADAC GT Masters and the European Le Mans Series, making his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut for Algarve Pro Racing.
In 2023, Aitken performed double-duty, racing the Cadillac V-LMDh in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Whelen Engineering Racing and contesting the DTM with Emil Frey Racing. He won the 12 Hours of Sebring. In 2024, he continued as a full-time IMSA driver with Action Express Racing, partnering Pipo Derani, and returned to DTM with Emil Frey Racing. He finished runner-up in the 2025 IMSA championship with consecutive wins at Indianapolis and Road Atlanta, and secured two victories in the 2025 DTM season. Aitken is set to compete full-time in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2026 for Cadillac Hertz Team Jota, replacing Jenson Button.
Aitken also participated in the Formula E rookie test with Envision Racing in 2023, and took part in a free practice session at the Rome ePrix.
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