Ex-Red Bull Formula 1 junior driver Juri Vips will return to IndyCar competition later this month at Portland, making his third series start with Rahal Letterman Lanigan.
It’s a crucial time in the 2025 silly season for Vips, who stood in for Jack Harvey at the team last year at the final two races at Portland and Laguna Seca before ultimately having to settle for a test and development deal for the team, which also runs BMWs in the IMSA SportsCar Championship's Hypercar class. Pietro Fittipaldi ultimately got the seat third seat for 2024 alongside Christian Lundgaard and Graham Rahal.
However, with Lundgaard joining McLaren, the team has a spot open for 2025 and is arguably the best team with a vacancy to fill amid a driver market stocked with top talent with little or no room to go.
Vips was signed up by the RLL squad after spending most of 2023 on the sidelines, owing to his alleged use of a racial slur on a live stream.
At one stage he was seriously considered by Red Bull for an F1 seat. He won the 2017 ADAC F4 championship with Prema - which is entering IndyCar next year - and won three races in Formula 2 from 2021-22.
He will drive a fourth RLL-run car, the #75, at Portland.
What have Vips and RLL said?
Vips says he is “confident” his Portland start last year will help him get up to speed quickly but called the opportunity - which will be his first start with IndyCar's new hybrid unit - a “big challenge”.
Team co-owner, series champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal is a huge fan of Vips and has spoken extremely positively about his chances for a race seat in 2025 in the wake of Lundgaard’s exit.
In Wednesday’s announcement, Rahal added: “He showed at both Portland and Laguna Seca last year that he certainly has the pace to feature in any event he runs with us.
“He has done a lot of work for us in the simulator this year, which has helped us understand the hybrid system, so it’s nice to reward him for his effort.
“I’m hopeful that this will lead to more races for him with RLL.”
How did Vips do last year?
The feeling in the paddock was that Vips was incredibly impressive. Although he qualified 18th at Portland, he was just one spot behind Lundgaard - who was the hottest property available in this year's driver market before McLaren snapped him up for 2025 in place of Alexander Rossi last month.
Vips finished 18th in what was a complex strategic race at Portland, but then delivered a brilliant seventh in qualifying at Laguna before a six-place penalty for an engine change moved him to 13th. He was then taken out at the first corner.
What are his 2025 seat chances?
The IndyCar driver market is stocked with top talent with few options for 2025, so Vips has an interesting place in this silly season.
On one hand, he’s shown well in his outings already, the team and Bobby Rahal love him, he works hard and contributes in - what is unusual in IndyCar - a proper reserve driver role, and the team has expressed its desire to see him in a seat.
On the other hand, Vips does not bring significant budget when others will, Rahal is known to be a fan of other drivers such as David Malukas who RLL has reportedly been in contact with, Indy 500 winner Rossi is on the market and Rahal tested F2 frontrunner Zane Maloney only last week.
This might be complicated by the fact that RLL could look to make two changes to its line-up if Haas F1-affiliated Pietro Fittipaldi - barely above the crucial 22nd place in the entry standings that awards an entry $1million each year - doesn’t improve in the last five races. He is 19th in the standings.
After Maloney’s test hinted that Vips' seemingly nailed-on graduation to a full-time IndyCar seat could be challenged, a race outing at a time when the hybrid era is still in its infancy will be a welcome piece of news for Vips in his bid to secure a seat.
Unless Rahal runs a fourth car next year full-time, which is extremely unlikely, the chances are one of the three drivers will bring budget, so that driver will probably need to be decided on before a decision is made on Vips or another driver.
It’s up in the air at the moment, and it was clear many felt Vips had done enough to earn a seat last year, so to see him spurned again would be a bitter pill to swallow, especially if Portland goes well.
