Red Bull has ended its cooperation with Jüri Vips, but Hitech is holding on to the Estonian – He can understand that he is being criticised by Formula 2
Jüri Vips is competing in Formula 2 this weekend in Spielberg (Austria). In recent weeks there has been a lot of excitement about the Estonian. In a livestream Vips had made a racist remark. Red Bull has kicked the young driver out of the development squad with immediate effect.
However, Hitech team boss Oliver Oakes has made the decision to allow Vips to finish the season, saying “everyone deserves a second chance”. Formula 2 have criticised this as “surprising”, but Vips is still in the cockpit.
When Vips is asked by our colleagues at ‘Autosport’ about this reaction from Formula 2, he replies, “I accept it completely. I made a big mistake and hurt a lot of people. They are completely right to say these things. “
“I am very humble and grateful to Hitech for this second chance. Now my goal is to continue the season and give them good results. But mainly I want to become a better person and show everyone that I have learned from this.”
Ahead of the Formula 2 races in Austria, Vips holds seventh place in the overall standings. The 21-year-old has been on the podium twice this season. Vips has not yet managed a victory in 2022.
In the paddock, Vips can be seen wearing a Hitech racing suit. Red Bull logos have disappeared. “To be clear, he is not getting any endorsement from us. There is no branding from us,” Helmut Marko holds in ‘ORF’.
The cooperation with Red Bull is over. But Marko is not too hard on Vips: “If someone makes a statement once and apologises, you can’t sacrifice your whole career. But that seems to be the mainstream at the moment. “
“There is no further support from us. But you have to leave things in the village. It’s all over for us at the moment.” In the future, Vips will have to take care of financing his career himself.
