Hitech GP are delighted to announce that Juri Vips will be joining the Silverstone-team in their 2019 FIA F3 campaign. The 18-year old Estonian driver will be backed by Red Bull in the newly-formed Formula One support category, which sees a merge between the FIA European F3 Championship and GP3 with the aim to simplify the junior single-seater ladder.

Vips will join Hitech GP for his second season in the third tier of the Formula One junior ladder in 2019. Following a successful season in European F3 this year, claiming second place in the Rookie championship and fourth in the drivers’ standings, Vips got behind the wheel in his first race as a new member of the Red Bull Junior Team in Macau last month. The Estonian also took part in post-season tests in Abu Dhabi last week, finishing 12th fastest in the GP3 machinery, a car similar to the Dallara FIA F3 chassis.

Vips made his single-seater debut in 2016 in the Italian F4 claiming the Rookie title, followed by a strong campaign in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship. He won the ADAC Formula 4 championship a year later in 2017.  The subsequent year saw him graduate to the FIA F3 European Championship, clinching second place in the Rookie championship, and fourth in the overall standings.

With a third-place finish in this year’s FIA F3 European Championship, Hitech GP will field the 2019 FIA F3 Championship in brand-new machinery based on the current GP3 car. Features include a 3.4-litre Mecachrome engine and six-speed Hewland gearbox, alongside DRS and halo.

The 2019 FIA F3 calendar will see the team contest a total of eight rounds as part of the F1 support category. The season opener will take place in Barcelona, Spain on 10-12 May 2019.