Jüri Vips' "upward trajectory" so far in 2019

Jüri Vips has helped to propel Hitech Grand Prix up the standings after a disappointing start to the campaign, which in turn has launched his own title challenge, and the Estonian racer says that he is “extremely proud” of the team.

Few in Formula 3 can claim to have made the progress that Hitech Grand Prix have as we enter the summer break. Having scored just 32 Points in the opening two rounds, a haul of 133 since then has thrust them to 2nd in the Championship.

Vips himself now sits in the same position in the fight for the drivers’ title, a mere 12 points off Robert Shwartzman, who started the campaign in such phenomenal form. Wrestling the title from within the Russian’s grasp was never going to be an easy task, and yet Vips now sits within a stones-thrown of it.

“I’m extremely pleased with Hitech,” he began. “They have done a fantastic job all season. PREMA seemed to be quite dominant in the first few rounds, but now we have caught up to them and we have been able to match them completely in the last four races. I’m extremely proud of them.

“The first part of the season was good, especially because we weren't that fast in the first few events. We kind of started putting everything together and we have been performing very well in the last few races. I think that the first part of the season was good.”

The improvements made to the British team’s machine have seen it go from the middle of the field to the top. During their home event at Silverstone, they even secured both victories. Vips took the win in Race 1 and announced himself as a true contender for the title, before teammate Leonardo Pulcini seized his first of the season in Race 2.

Yet, despite not earning a victory, it was in Budapest where the Red Bull F1 junior gained the most ground on his rivals. Two solid 4th place finishes saw him chop the gap to 12 points and it is now realistic that come the end of Round 6, we could have a new leader at the top.

“Apart from the first two race weekends, it’s been an upward trajectory for me in the season,” Vips continued. “I am just trying to keep this up for the last few rounds and trying to win the Championship. The first few rounds weren’t amazing, but after that the momentum has really been good. The team has been doing a good job with the car and everything is just kind of coming together.”

However, with the PREMA duo, and fellow title contenders, Shwartzman and Jehan Daruvala both suffering pointless finishes in Hungary, the Estonian still feels that it was a case on an opportunity missed, in a Championship where “every point matters.”

With three rounds remaining for him to usurp his rival and battle off the force of PREMA, Vips asserted the need for perfection from now on.

“I will be looking to improve and not have any small mistakes, like I did at the start of Race 1 in Budapest. I think that every point matters in this championship because it is so close at the top. I think that Shwartzman made a mistake in the last race and it cost him a lot of points.

“I will try to improve and make sure that I avoid these little things that can go wrong and cost me some points and yeah, just be consistent and perfect until the end of the season.”

While perfection seems unlikely, continued consistency is certainly achievable, and if the Estonian can knock his rival off 1st, then it will be a fine feat.