Jüri Vips (Estonian pronunciation: [ˈjy.ri vips]; born 10 August 2000) is an Estonian racing driver who last competed in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for RLL Team McLaren. He has previously driven in the IndyCar Series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, and won races in both the FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3 Championships. He was the 2017 ADAC Formula 4 champion, and was formerly a member of the Red Bull Junior Team.
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.
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 forty-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, the latter from pole position, and won the sprint race at the Sochi. 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. 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. Vips finished narrowly outside the 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. Formula 2 commitments forced Vips to miss the FREC round at the Red Bull Ring, but he returned to FREC 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. This caused him to miss the fifth and sixth rounds of FREC, limiting his chances of earning FIA Super Licence points through that series. However, on the week before the race at Autopolis, Team Mugen confirmed that Vips would not take part in any of the remaining rounds. Formula One team Red Bull Racing later revealed that Vips had been recalled from Super Formula to complete testing and reserve driver duties.
In January 2021, it was announced that Vips would make his full-time Formula 2 debut, contesting the 2021 season with Hitech Grand Prix alongside Liam Lawson. At the first round at the Bahrain International Circuit, Vips qualified fifth. However, he was excluded from qualifying due to a technical infringement. Vips charged from the back all the way to tenth. Progressing to tenth place in the opening race earnt him reverse-grid pole position for the second race. He survived an attack from Lirim Zendeli at the race start. He finally succumbed to the lead on lap five after Zhou Guanyu passed him. On lap fifteen, the safety car was brought out and Vips made the choice to pit for fresher tyres. But with less than three laps to go, whilst running in second place, Vips suffered a gearbox issue that fell him to sixteenth at the flag. The feature race saw little for Vips, ending the race in thirteenth. He ended the round without scoring points, describing his luck as "laughable". In Monaco, Vips finished fifth in the first sprint, holding off Dan Ticktum in the closing stages. The second sprint saw Vips finish the race in fourth place after going past Theo Pourchaire on lap 24 of 30. However, when Lawson was disqualified, Vips was promoted to third, hence scoring his first podium for Hitech.
At the third round at the Baku City Circuit, Vips qualified a season best second, locking up a Hitech front row alongside Lawson on pole. He finished seventh in the sprint race 1, having missed seventh place to Marcus Armstrong by less than a tenth. Vips claimed his maiden win the next race, passing Bent Viscaal and David Beckmann en route to victory in Formula 2's one-hundredth race. He described his victory as "redemption" and "relief" after his misfortune in Bahrain. Vips won once again, holding off Oscar Piastri by a second during the feature race. In doing so, Vips became the first driver to win two Formula 2 races in a weekend.