History-making British-Korean F1 driver Jack Aitken aims to penetrate the East – ‘it is part of the game-plan’
- The 25-year-old, who made his F1 debut last month, is encouraged by the response from Korean fans and aspiring drivers
- Aitken on trying to reignite Asian scene – ‘Motorsport is not cheap and you need to be marketable’
Jack Aitken ended 2020 by making history as the first driver of Korean heritage to drive in Formula One. The 25-year-old, born in London to a Scottish father and South Korean mother, earned his dream call-up for Williams at the Bahrain Grand Prix as a replacement for fellow Brit George Russell who was filling in for Mercedes-AMG Petronas after star man Lewis Hamilton tested positive for Covid-19.
Though his F1 debut ended with an apologetic 16th-place finish after a late collision with a barrier, Aitken’s stock skyrocketed throughout the European and Asian motorsport scenes. But it was his new-found Korean support that caught his eye.
“There was a big response from Korea – more than I expected – which was amazing because traditionally Formula One isn’t or hasn’t been as popular in Korea,” Aitken (Korean name Han Seyong) told the Post.
“Just motorsport in general and the interest there is still quite young. We do have a lot of Korean fans getting in touch on social media and many who follow the races because of my heritage. I’ve had a lot of questions asking about how to get involved and how to get started in motorsport which is really cool to see.”
Ongoing pandemics aside, the Aitkens visit Korea once a year for family, friends and food. The stark cultural contrast between a Scottish Hogmanay and Korean Chuseok is something Aitken is very thankful to be exposed to over the years – and he definitely wants to keep family traditions going.
“I enjoy it a lot. It’s nice to go as a family and get a taste of the difference to what we have here in the West. For someone who grew up in London, it’s not like you’re exposed to that all of the time. I really enjoyed learning more about Korea and I started to learn a bit of Korean as well – as much as I could. It’s just a bit of a crazy world and I want to be in touch with that side of my family as much as I can be. Obviously my mum’s very supportive of that, and on the flip side, I really love my dad’s Scottish heritage as well,” he said.