Because it's an easy way to build your audience of 12-19 year olds. They're the streaming generation. It makes you more likeable if you're having fun with mates playing video games and it makes you relatable to young people, as long as you're not dropping n-bombs.

I'll admit I've seen Lando play FPS with other comedy streamers and it made him more likeable for me.

I was expecting some full on rant and melt down, not that. But I know I know, racism is racism and it is unacceptable.....So now any time a black person says whitey or cracker are they going to be cancelled as well? Can't have double standards, can we......can we?

What a waste.
Small tip for celebrities: if you play video games, stay anonymous (no mic, no camera), or better still, play offline single player games.

He had It coming...but let's see if they do the same should Verstappen get caught in a similar incident...
Oh, wait he has already done that...but calling somebody "mongoloid" is apparently totally fine.

The connotations between the example you gave, and the way the "n" word is used, are completely different. I mean, you don't see a video gamer shouting "cracker" or "whitey" when he gets frustrated?

They aren't double standards, they are different standards.

Red Bull have let Vips go so he might lose the Hitech spot as well.

F2 is surprised too.

could be that situation where Hitech contacted some drivers to replace but negotiations fell through and instead of hiring unexperienced/uncapable drivers they just kept him, until they cannot

The F2 twitter statement might look like they are "totally shocked", but the fact that it was sent out 2 minutes after Hitech's shows that the two statements were totally coordinated.

I'd really like to know how kids absorb the N word into their category as slang. It seems like way too old-school a word to be thrown around at schools or online, unless you're a full-time troll or listen to a lot of rap and don't understand the context of the lyrics. Once the word is in there and you've gotten in the habit of working it into conversation, you're probably going to slip up and use it in the wrong situation (which is any situation really).

I don't think Vips or Larson were closet racists, I think they built up a habit of using these words in certain social circles despite the pretty obvious baggage associated with them. Considering the type of people they seem to be, I just don't get how it happened.