Vips, 23, who makes his IndyCar Series debut with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in Portland this weekend, was dropped from the Red Bull Junior Team after using a racial slur on a live gaming stream.
The Estonian had already made his FP1 debut for Red Bull at the Spanish Grand Prix, and was scheduled for another run at Silverstone, when he was heard using racist language during a video game livestream. He was first suspended, and then his contract was then terminated.
After apologising for his behaviour, Vips continued to race for his F2 team, Hitech Grand Prix, while undergoing diversity training. He hasn’t raced since the end of the 2022 F2 season.
“I think Juri is just a very nice, young guy,” said Rahal, who will evaluate Vips ahead of the opportunity for a full-time ride in 2024. “I mean, it's no secret that he made a mistake and paid a huge price, but people in Europe who I knew were very, very complimentary about him as a driver and as a person.
“This mistake was a single mistake. Unfortunately, as we all know, Juri paid a huge price for that and lost his position in the Red Bull system, which he was the preeminent junior driver at the time. In fact, it's kind of interesting that his partner who was with him at the time, Liam Lawson, just drove the AlphaTauri at the Dutch Grand Prix.
“[He] has really, I think, atoned for it through the diversity training programmes that he's been involved with both in England and here in the United States. In fact, the same organisation that [NASCAR star] Kyle Larson went to, and we felt that they were very good in their field, and Juri has been going through that programme.
Source: Autosport