Hitech GP have announced that Juri Vips will join the team’s FIA F3 Championship squad.
The 18-year-old Estonian will be back by the Red Bull as part of their Junior Team in the newly formed Formula One support series which merges the FIA European F3 Championship and the GP3 Series.
Following a successful season with Hitech this year, claiming second in the Rookies’ Championship and fourth in the overall standings.
Vips took part in his first race as a member of the Red Bull Junior Team last month at the Macau Grand Prix.
As well, he took part in the GP3 post-season test in Abu Dhabi finishing twelfth in the Dallara machinery.
The Estonian made his single-seater debut in 2016 in the Italian F4 claiming the Rookie title, following this was a strong campaign in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship winning the championship in 2017.
“I’m really excited to join Hitech GP for 2019,” said Vips. “So far the team has impressed me a lot and I really like the way they work. FIA F3 will be a very competitive championship next year and it will be tough to win, but it’s great to see how motivated everyone is to achieve one common goal of ours.”
Team Principal, Oliver Oakes, said: “I’m delighted to have Juri join us for the new for 2019 Formula 3 Championship. I have known him for several years and we saw he came on really strong throughout the second half of the F3 season – what a talent he is! We are looking forward to fighting for victories with him in 2019. As a company we are also looking forward to working closely with the Red Bull Junior Team.”
The 2019 calendar will see the team and Vips contest a total of eight rounds as part of the F1 support. The season opener will take place at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona on 10-12 May 2019.