Vips: “I want the Grand Prix”

Despite marshalling the Qualifying Race to perfection, Jüri Vips has insisted that there is still plenty more in the tank ahead of tomorrow’s Macau Grand Prix.

The Hitech GP racer ran from lights-to-flag ahead of Robert Shwartzman in the first race of the weekend, rarely looking at risk of giving up the lead. However, with much more at stake in the main event on Sunday, the Red Bull junior said that he refused to risk it all for the win, had Shwartzman been able to make a more powerful attack.

“I wouldn't say I dominated,” Vips explained. “Because, Shwartzman caught up a little bit at the end. To be honest, I don't know if he had a margin as well, but I definitely had a little bit of a margin between me and the wall.

“I know that in this race, it is more important to just finish it and not put it in the wall. The full attack will be tomorrow.”

The Estonian appear to bolt off the line when the lights went out, as Shwartzman and Lundgaard set up behind him in tow. However, he’s insisted that it wasn’t as straight-forward as it appeared at the race start.

“I think that the only place where I got a little bit lucky was at the start,” Vips continued. “Second and third had a bit of a poor start, so that is how I managed to maintain the lead at the first braking zone.

“Otherwise, I think that I done quite a good race, with no makes mistakes. I just managed the gap during the race.”

Vips will now start at the front of the grid for the main race tomorrow, when he will look to add his name to a star-studded list, which includes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard.

Asked if he was content so far, his response was simple: “No.” The Estonian will settle for nothing less than victory.

“I want the Grand Prix,” he determinedly asserted. “This has given me confidence that the car is good and the pace is there, so we can fight for it tomorrow.”