Jüri Vips

Jüri Vips (born 10 August 2000) is an Estonian racing driver.

He previously competed in the NTT IndyCar Series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, with whom he is still employed, FIA Formula 2 Championship with Hitech Grand Prix.

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.

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 twelfth place.

In 2016, Vips made his car-racing 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.

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.

He was the 2017 ADAC Formula 4 champion.

In 2017, Vips continued with Prema in Italian F4 and ADAC Formula 4.

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.

In September 2017, after his ADAC Formula 4 victory, Vips tested Formula 3 machinery with Prema at Magny-Cours.

In October he made his debut in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship as a guest driver, replacing absent Motopark driver Petru Florescu.

Vips secured a full-time seat with Motopark for the 2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship.

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 fourteenth 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 nineteenth place.

In December 2018 it was announced that Vips would compete in the new FIA Formula 3 Championship, joining Hitech Grand Prix for the 2019 season.

He took victory in the feature races at the Red Bull Ring and at Silverstone Circuit, the latter from pole position, and won the sprint race at the Sochi Autodrom.

He ended the season fourth in the drivers' championship, behind the three Prema entries of Robert Shwartzman, Marcus Armstrong and Jehan Daruvala.

Vips continued with Hitech to contest the 2019 Macau Grand Prix.

He set the fastest qualifying time – a new lap record – and converted pole position for the qualifying race into victory, putting him on pole for the main race.

Vips led in the early part of the race, but crashes from Leonardo Pulcini and Ferdinand Habsburg nullified his lead as the safety car was deployed.

He was overtaken by Richard Verschoor when the race resumed and finished in second place, 0.792 seconds behind Verschoor.

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.

He qualified nineteenth and ran as high as fifth in the race.

However, he stalled the car during his pit stop, losing around half a minute while sat stationary and causing him to drop to eighteenth by the finish.

Vips re-joined Team Mugen in a December 2019 test at Suzuka.

In January 2020, it was announced that Vips would drive for the team in the 2020 Super Formula Championship alongside Tomoki Nojiri.

However, the start of the Super Formula season was postponed until August due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the closure of Japan's borders to foreign nationals put Vips' ability to compete into doubt.

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.

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.

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.