Red Bull Formula 1 junior Juri Vips will make his Super Formula debut at next weekend’s season finale at Suzuka.
Vips, 19, joined Red Bull’s scheme in 2018, and this year classified fourth in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, as the highest-placing non-Prema driver.
Vips claimed victories in Austria, Britain and Russia but narrowly missed out on enough points to earn a Formula 1 Super License.
Red Bull has yet to determine the 2020 plans for its junior drivers but Estonian racer Vips will sample Super Formula for the first time at Suzuka next weekend.
Vips will take over the Team Mugen car previously raced by Dan Ticktum and Patricio O’Ward this year.
Ticktum, a two-time Macau Grand Prix winner, was regarded as Red Bull’s likeliest next F1 hope and he tested its RB15 in Bahrain, but was dropped from the system mid-season.
Reigning Indy Lights champion and occasional IndyCar starter Patricio O’Ward took over the seat for the following three rounds.
O’Ward, a surprise mid-year addition to Red Bull’s scheme, also had an outing in Formula 2 with MP Motorsport, but his future as a junior of the energy drinks company’s scheme is unclear.
