Earlier on Thursday, Red Bull announced that their junior driver Juri Vips will have his first-ever F1 practice outing at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Four-time F1 Constructors’ champions Red Bull have confirmed that Juri Vips will drive their RB18 at the Spanish Grand Prix’s first practice session on Friday. For the 2022 season, all 10 F1 teams have to to run a ‘rookie’ driver in at least two FP1 sessions during the year.
Red Bull will be opting to hand their first FP 1 session to Juri Vips on Friday as the team will offer him Sergio Perez’s car in Barcelona. So, here’s all you need to know about the young Estonian driver, who won the ADAC Formula 4 championship with the Red Bull Junior team.
Who is Juri Vips?
Juri Vips is currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Hitech Grand Prix. The Estonian driver is 21 years of age and is also a member of the Red Bull Junior Team.
Vips garnered plenty of attention when he won the ADAC Formula 4 championship in 2017. This season, Vips has had a rather tricky campaign in Formula 2 with just two podium finishes, leaving him eighth in the drivers’ standings overall.
Vips also spoke about the expectations that Red Bull have from him this year in F2. While he has not been told that he must win the 2022 Formula 2 title, but instead Vips must prove that he is ready for Formula 1 if the team need to call him at any time. A solid FP1 showing in Spain would be able to help in some way to proving that.
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