IMAGO / PanoramiC
Oracle Red Bull Racing announced on Tuesday that it terminated the contract of junior driver, Juri Vips, after an investigation into the use of a racial slur during a live stream.
“Following its investigation into an online incident involving Juri Vips, Oracle Red Bull Racing has terminated Juri’s contract as its test and reserve driver,” Red Bull said in a statement. “The team does not condone any form of racism.”
Vips, who did apologize for his behavior in a statement on Instagram, was suspended a week ago pending a full investigation. The team said in a statement at the time, in part, “As an organization we condemn abuse of any kind and have a zero-tolerance policy to racist language or behaviors within our organization.”
The 21-year-old was playing Call of Duty: Warzone with Liam Lawson, another Red Bull junior driver, who was live streaming the game on Twitch. During the live stream, Vips cursed and said the n-word, according to the Washington Post.
The Formula Two driver for the British-based Hitech Grand Prix team said in his apology statement last week, “This language is entirely unacceptable and does not portray the values and principles that I hold. I deeply regret my actions and this is not the example I wish to set.”
Red Bull’s announcement came the same day that Formula One, the FIA and Mercedes condemned Nelson Piquet’s use of a racial slur in reference to Lewis Hamilton during a Nov. 2021 podcast interview.
