Jüri Vips

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.

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]

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]

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 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]

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 due to race full-time in Formula 2 for the 2021 season in Hitech GP.[31]

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 Grand Prix's [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]

^† 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.

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

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

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

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

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