Hitech sign Red Bull juniors Lawson and Vips for 2021

Hitech Grand Prix will line-up with an all Red Bull Junior Team pairing in 2021, announcing that they have signed Liam Lawson and Jüri Vips for the upcoming campaign.

The duo are well-known to the British team, having previously competed for them in Formula 3, Lawson in 2020 and Vips in 2019.

Lawson finished fifth in F3 last season, taking three wins and six podiums overall. The Kiwi then stepped up to F2 with Hitech for the post-season tests in Bahrain and proved that he could quickly get up to speed with the upgrade in machinery.

The 18-year-old arrives with title-winning pedigree, winning the NZ F1600 Championship in 2017 and the Toyota Racing Series in 2019.

“I’m excited to be racing in F2 with Hitech this year,” elated Lawson. “Following two years of Formula 3, I feel prepared to be in this championship and do a good job for the team.

“I learnt a lot in the F2 test in Bahrain with Hitech and got a good feeling with the car. This being said, there’s definitely still a lot more to learn so I am looking forward to the challenge ahead!”

Vips returns to the team after a year away, having taken fourth in F3 with them in 2019 on the back of three wins and four podiums. The Estonian made his F2 debut last season, competing in three rounds in place of Sean Gelael, who had suffered a back injury.

Vips scored 16 points, including a podium finish, in his six-race stint with DAMS and will now make the step up full-time.

“I’m really looking forward to working with Hitech again,” said Vips. “We had a good year in F3 back in 2019, but we have some unfinished business together. They had a great season in their first year in F2 and I’m confident we will be able to fight for the title this season!”

“We are proud to continue our relationship with Red Bull for a third season,” said Team Principal Oliver Oakes, having also seen the team announce their F3 pairing of Jaw Crawford and Ayumu Iwasa.

“It will see us bring two new exciting talents (Jak and Ayumu) into the FIA F3 grid, who have proven themselves with strong results in Formula 4.

“Alongside seeing Liam step up to F2 with us after a strong performance in the Bahrain F2 Test and Jüri coming back home to Hitech who we know well from 2019 in FIA F3.

“It’s an exciting pool of drivers and we look forward to fighting for victories on track across F2, F3 and the Asian F3 Championship.”