During the past week, the Red Bull reserve and test driver made an unfortunate comment during a live broadcast on the Twitch platform while playing a video game, which led to the immediate suspension of his contract by the team pending an investigation.
Ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, the Austrian outfit announced via its Twitter account that the agreement with Juri Vips had been terminated, thus ending its relationship with the outfit after four years.
“Following investigation into an online incident involving Juri Vips, Oracle Red Bull Racing has terminated Juri’s contract as its test and reserve driver,” the announcement read. “The team does not condone any form of racism.”
The Estonian joined the energy drinks young talent program in 2018 , and has competed since 2020 under the Austrian structure in Formula 2, combining it with sporadic appearances as a test and reserve driver.
Vips did some work with Red Bull in the simulator and made his official Formula 1 weekend debut at the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix, replacing Sergio Pérez . Following his incident and subsequent suspension, the Estonian issued a statement “apologizing for the offensive language used during a live game broadcast.”
“This language is totally unacceptable and does not portray the values and principles that I stand for,” Vips said. “I deeply regret my actions and this is not the example I want to set. I will fully assist in the investigation.”
The Estonian has been racing for Hitech in Formula 2 this season, and was expected to take part in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, but after this it is unknown if the team will give him another chance in their car.
The news of Vips’ departure from Red Bull comes on the same day that several teams have shown their support for seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton after being subjected to racist comments by Nelson Piquet .
The words of the Brazilian provoked the reaction of the highest category of motorsport and the FIA, while the Briton said that “the time had come to act” to combat this type of behavior.
“These archaic mindsets have to change, and they have no place in our sport,” Hamilton said. “I have been surrounded by these attitudes all my life. There has been a long time to learn, the time has come to act.”
