Red Bull racing have suspended their junior driver Juri Vips pending further investigation after the Estonian uttered a racial slur during a live stream.
The team announced its decision on Tuesday to suspend the Formula Two driver.
The 21-year-old Vips used a racial slur on the streaming platform Twitch, with the video quickly making rounds on social media.
“Red Bull Racing has suspended junior driver Juri Vips from all team duties with immediate effect, pending a full investigation into the incident,” it said.
“As an organization, we condemn abuse of any kind and have a zero-tolerance policy to racist language or behavior within our organization.”
Juri Vips was quick to apologize on his Instagram and said he would fully cooperate with the investigation.
“I wish to unreservedly apologize for the offensive language used during a live gaming stream earlier today,” he wrote.
“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.
Vips currently drives for the British-based Hitech Grand Prix team in Formula Two and is seventh in the driver’s standings.
Red Bull gave Juri Vips a test drive last month during Friday’s practice ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix where he replaced Sergio Perez for one session.
FIA has crackdown hard on such cases and recently suspended Artem Severiukhin for an alleged nazi salute.
