Jüri Vips

Jüri Vips
Vips in 2021
Nationality	Estonian
Born	(2000-08-10) 10 August 2000 (age 21) Tallinn, Estonia
FIA Formula 2 Championship career
Debut season	2020
Current team	Hitech Grand Prix
Car number	8
Former teams	DAMS
Starts	23 (23 entries)
Wins	2
Podiums	7
Poles	0
Fastest laps	1
Best finish	6th in 2021
Previous series
2020 2019 2019 2017–18 2016–17 2016–17 2016–17	Formula Regional European Super Formula Championship FIA Formula 3 FIA European F3 Italian F4 Championship ADAC Formula 4 MRF Challenge
Championship titles
2017	ADAC Formula 4

Jüri Vips (born 10 August 2000) is an Estonian racing driver, currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Hitech Grand Prix.^[1] He is the 2017 ADAC Formula 4 champion and a member of the Red Bull Junior Team.

Career[]

Karting[]

Vips was born in Tallinn and began competitive karting in 2011 in his native Estonia. After winning the Rotax Junior Estonian Championship in 2013, Vips qualified for the 2014 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in the Junior category, in which he claimed victory.^[2] He competed in the CIK-FIA European KF1 Championship in 2015, racing against future FIA Formula 3 competitors Richard Verschoor and Marcus Armstrong. Vips ended the championship in 12th place.

Formula 4[]

In 2016, Vips made his single-seater debut in the Italian F4 and ADAC Formula 4 championships with Prema Powerteam. He finished sixth in ADAC Formula 4 and fifth in Italian F4, where he won the final race of the season and took the title of rookie champion.^[3][4] In the winter of 2016–17, Vips took part in the Indian-based MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship, taking three podium places and finishing sixth in the standings.

In 2017, Vips continued with Prema in Italian F4 and ADAC Formula 4.^[5] His appearances in Italian F4 were as a guest driver and he was ineligible to place in the championship, however he took two pole positions and a race victory at Mugello. In ADAC Formula 4, Vips was involved in a title fight with teammate Marcus Armstrong. Vips claimed the title in the final race at the Hockenheimring after pole sitter Armstrong lost the lead of the race to Artem Petrov.^[6]

Vips competing in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship at the Nürburgring in 2017.

F3 European Championship[]

In September 2017, after his ADAC Formula 4 victory, Vips tested Formula 3 machinery with Prema at Magny-Cours.^[7] In October he made his debut in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship as a guest driver, replacing Motopark driver Petru Florescu who was unable to compete in the final round at the Hockenheimring for medical reasons.^[8] Vips finished the three races in 21st, 12th and 12th.

Vips secured a full-time seat with Motopark for the 2018 season.^[9] He took three pole positions and four race wins on his way to fourth place in the championship, behind teammate Dan Ticktum and Prema drivers Mick Schumacher and Robert Shwartzman. In November 2018, Vips made his first appearance at the Macau Grand Prix. He placed 14th in qualifying and improved to seventh in the qualification race. He maintained his position in the main race, finishing seventh, but was handed a 40-second time penalty for making an overtake under red-flag conditions, demoting him to 19th place.^[10]

FIA Formula 3[]

In December 2018 it was confirmed that Vips would compete in the new FIA Formula 3 Championship, joining Hitech GP for the 2019 season.^[11] Vips had a relatively successful campaign with two feature race wins and one sprint race win. Despite some inconsistent results, Vips placed fourth in the overall driver's championship, finishing highest of the non-Prema drivers.^[12]

Vips driving the Dallara F3 2019 at the 2019 Spielberg Formula 3 round.

Vips continued with Hitech GP to contest the 2019 Macau Grand Prix. He took pole position for the qualification race after the second qualifying session on Friday, setting the new lap record in the process.^[13] He then managed to convert the pole position into victory in the qualifying race, allowing him to start on pole for Sunday's race.^[14] Despite a near-flawless weekend up to that point, Vips was unable to convert the pole to victory in the all-important Sunday race. Vips lead in the early part of the race, however, due to crashes from Leonardo Pulcini and Ferdinand Habsburg, Vips' lead was eradicated as the safety car was called out. After the race resumed, Richard Verschoor overtook Vips at the Lisboa corner. Vips ended the race in second, only 0.792 seconds behind Verschoor.^[15]

Super Formula, Formula Regional and Formula 2[]

In October 2019, it was announced that Vips would replace Patricio O'Ward at Team Mugen for the final round of the 2019 Super Formula Championship.^[16] He qualified 19th out of the 20 cars but performed admirably during the race. However, Vips stalled the car during his pit stop, losing around half a minute while sat stationary. He finished the race in 18th.^[17]

Vips re-joined Team Mugen in a winter test at Suzuka in December 2019, sparking rumours about a full-time drive for 2020. Vips finished third overall during the test.^[18] In January 2020, it was confirmed that Vips would drive for Team Mugen in the 2020 Super Formula Championship alongside Tomoki Nojiri.^[19][20] However, the start of the Super Formula season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, a revised calendar was released with the championship due to begin at the end of August, however doubts remained over Vips' ability to compete due the closure of Japan's borders to foreign nationals.^[21]

In June 2020, Vips took part in a Formula Regional European Championship (FREC) test at Imola with the Finnish KIC Motorsport team. He was then announced as part of the team's lineup for the 2020 season.^[22] Vips' manager Marko Asmer clarified that his Super Formula campaign was the priority, but that FREC would be a "back-up" if travel to Japan became impossible.^[23] Vips' first FREC race at Misano ended in retirement after a spin into the gravel.

Vips was ultimately unable to enter Japan in time for the first round of the Super Formula championship at Motegi. He was replaced at Team Mugen by Ukyo Sasahara.^[24][25] Shortly after claiming a double podium finish in the FREC round at Circuit Paul Ricard, Vips was called up to the FIA Formula 2 Championship to replace injured DAMS driver Sean Gelael.^[26] This was after it was confirmed that Gelael, who broke his vertebrae after an incident in the sprint race at Barcelona, would be ruled out of racing for at least six weeks.^[27] Vips finished narrowly outside of points in his first four races at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza. He scored first points of the season at Mugello where he finished seventh in the feature race and third in the sprint race,^[28] making him the first Estonian to claim a podium finish in the Formula 2 series. Commitments in Formula 2 forced Vips to miss the FREC round at the Red Bull Ring, but he returned to the series at the following round at Mugello, claiming a second-place finish.

After missing the first three rounds, Vips was set to return to Super Formula for the fourth round at Autopolis, having successfully entered Japan and completed a two-week quarantine period.^[29] This caused him to miss the fifth and sixth rounds of FREC, limiting his chances of earning FIA Super Licence points through that series.^[21] However, on the week before the race at Autopolis, Team Mugen confirmed that Vips would not take part in any of the remaining rounds.^[25] Formula One team Red Bull Racing later revealed that Vips had been recalled from Super Formula to complete testing and reserve driver duties.^[30]

Vips is currently racing full-time in Formula 2 in the 2021 season for Hitech GP. He achieved his first win in the 2nd sprint race of the 2021 Baku round, which marked the series' 100th race, and did likewise the following day in the feature race.^[31]

Formula 1[]

In October 2018, Vips was linked to a place in the Red Bull Junior Team.^[32] He was confirmed with the program the following month prior to the Macau Grand Prix.^[1]

In November 2020, Vips received his FIA Super Licence after completing a 300km test for Red Bull, driving the Red Bull RB8 at the Silverstone Circuit. He was a reserve driver for Red Bull and sister team AlphaTauri at the Turkish, Bahrain, Sakhir and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix ^[21]

Vips tested the current Red Bull Racing RB16 at the end-of-season young driver test that took place week after the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final race of the season.^[33]

In december 2021, Vips took part in the Abu Dhabi young driver test where he was testing the current Red Bull RB16B next to Max Verstappen.

Karting record[]

Karting career summary[]

Racing record[]

Racing career summary[]

^† As Vips had not competed in the required number of rounds, he was ineligible for a championship position.
^‡ As Vips was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Italian F4 Championship results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† Vips did not compete in the required number of rounds to be eligible for a championship position.

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† As Vips was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Macau Grand Prix results[]

Year	Team	Car	Qualifying	Quali Race	Main race
2018	Motopark	Dallara F317	14th	7th	19th
2019	Hitech Grand Prix	Dallara F3 2019	1st	1st	2nd

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Complete Super Formula results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

References[]

External links[]

• Jüri Vips career summary at DriverDB.com

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jüri Vips.