Nikola Tsolov

Nikola Dimitrov Tsolov (, ; born 21 December 2006) is a Bulgarian racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Campos Racing as part of the Red Bull Junior Team.

Born and raised in Sofia, Tsolov began competitive kart racing aged nine, winning several national and continental titles before graduating to junior formulae in 2022. He won the F4 Spanish Championship in his rookie season. Nicknamed "the Bulgarian Lion", he broke the record for most wins (5) in FIA Formula 3 from to , finishing runner-up to Rafael Câmara in the latter.

A member of the Alpine Academy from 2022 to 2024 and the Red Bull Junior Team since 2025, Tsolov completed his first Formula One showrun in June 2025, driving the Red Bull RB7 in Sofia.

Racing career Karting (2016–2021) The Bulgarian Lion (a nickname that he gained early in his career) started his karting career in 2016, supported by his father Dimitar. He became Republican champion in 2016 and 2017 in the Bulgarian Mini class.

In 2018, Tsolov moved to the Italian championships. He won the WSK Open Cup in 60 Mini karts in 2019. He then came seventh in the CIK-FIA World Championship in OKJ in 2020, and was second in the 2021 WSK Final Cup in OK, driving for DPK Racing as part of Fernando Alonso's FA Racing team. Tsolov was invited by Alonso to drive alongside him, Pedro de la Rosa, Ángel Burgueño, and Alberto Fernandez in the 2021 edition of 24h Endurance race in Dubai, where they finished 3rd.

Formula 4 (2022) After competing for Fernando Alonso's karting team for two years, Tsolov became one of the first drivers to join A14 Management along with Clément Novalak. Tsolov joined the F4 Spanish Championship for 2022 with Campos. He started the season at Algarve with a double pole. In the first race, he finished 14th after a problem at the start, but he finished in fifth in the second race and won the third, along with setting the fastest lap in every race. He kept the good pace in the second round at the Circuito de Jerez by setting a pole position and a fastest lap in all three races, finishing second in the first race and winning second and third races, which took him to the lead of the championship. The next weekend at Circuit Ricardo Tormo he dominated the field, winning all three starts along with two pole-positions and another three fastest laps. Tsolov secured his championship win on 2 October, after finishing second in the third race at Circuito de Navarra, winning the title three races before the end of season.

Formula 3 (2023–2025) 2023: Debut in FIA Formula 3

In September 2022, Tsolov took part in the FIA Formula 3 post-season test, driving for ART Grand Prix. On 19 December it was announced that he would be one of ART Grand Prix drivers for the 2023 season. In February 2023, Tsolov took part in the last round of Formula Regional Middle East Championship driving for R&B Racing by GRS, as part of his preparation for F3. In the first race of the weekend, he finished in ninth place, finished sixth place in the second race and 15th in the third one. He was the only driver to score points for R&B Racing in the championship.

Across his campaign in FIA Formula 3, Tsolov scored two points finishes in the sprint races in Spa-Francorchamps and Monza. He finished the season in 22nd place. Shortly after the season, Tsolov contested Eurocup-3 with GRS Team. He entered two of the eight rounds, finishing the championship in tenth place with two podiums.

2024: Maiden victories

ART Grand Prix retained Tsolov for the 2024 season. His first victory came in Monaco, where he won the sprint race. He was the first Bulgarian driver to win a race in the series. His second win of the season came in the sprint race in round 6 of the championship in Spielberg, and he took a third in the Hungary feature race. Tsolov would miss the round at Spa-Francorchamps due to racing there in Eurocup-3 because of the rule that you cannot drive at an circuit on the F3 or F2 calendar if you race there earlier in the year. Because Tsolov was barred from competing, he was replaced by Tuukka Taponen. He finished the season in 11th overall. Alongside his FIA Formula 3 campaign, Tsolov signed with GRS Team to compete in the full 2024 Eurocup-3 season. He finished 11th in the championship with only one podium.

2025: Runner-up to Câmara

In the 2025 off-season, Tsolov competed in one round of the 2025 Eurocup-3 Spanish Winter Championship with Campos Racing. He finished races one and two in fourth place, and retired from race three. He finished 12th in the standings with 22 points. Tsolov returned to Campos Racing, the team he won the 2022 F4 Spanish Championship with, for his third FIA Formula 3 season, partnering Mari Boya and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak. He took his first win of the season in Bahrain, equalling the record for most wins in the series. In Monaco, Tsolov took his maiden F3 pole position, topping the Group A session ahead of teammate Boya. He went on to win the feature race, making him the first driver to win five races in FIA Formula 3.

FIA Formula 2 (2025–present) 2025: Debut Tsolov made an early debut in FIA Formula 2 in , replacing Formula E–bound Pepe Martí at Campos Racing for the closing two rounds. On debut in Lusail, he qualified seventh. At the sprint race in Abu Dhabi, Tsolov finished third, getting his first podium finish in Formula 2.

2026: Rookie season

In September 2025, Tsolov was announced as a full-time driver for , remaining with Campos. Tsolov won the feature race at the opening round at Melbourne, getting his first victory in Formula 2. His next win came in the sprint race of the Miami Grand Prix, making him the first ever F2 winner in Miami after a skirmish with Van Hoepen who was 0.170 seconds behind Tsolov. His third win of the season came in the Feature Race in Monaco, starting in second behind his 2025 F3 rival Rafael Camara, who was on pole position. Camara led the race until lap 34, when, after a pit stop, he struggled to bring his cold tyres up to temperature and locked up, running wide at Sainte-Dévote and retiring from the race. This allowed Tsolov to take the lead and win the race. He also set the fastest lap. The next weekend in the sprint race in Barcelona he ended with a podium on P3. After that in the Feature race in Austria at the Red Bull Ring he got his fourth win starting from P3. Then his most dominant weekend of his career came at Silverstone where he ended up qualifying 5th for the feature race and 6th for the sprint. In the sprint Tsolov made a good start, going up to P3 by turn 1. He overtook Rafael Villagómez on lap 9, taking P2 and overtook Gabriele Minì on the last lap to take the win. In the feature race he again made a good launch of the line and went up to P2, behind Kush Maini, whom he overtook on lap 20 to win the feature race. He was the first driver to win both the sprint and feature races in a weekend since Zane Maloney, who won the 2024 Sakhir Formula 2 round. Tsolov also became the first driver in FIA Formula 2 history to win 3 races in a row.

Formula One Tsolov became a member of the Alpine Affiliate programme in March 2022. On 14 February 2023, he was promoted to a full member of Alpine Academy. On 4 November 2024, Tsolov announced on social media that he would leave the academy with immediate effect. One day later, he was announced to be joining the Red Bull Junior Team for 2025. He debuted in Formula One machinery at a Sofia Red Bull showrun that June, driving the Red Bull RB7.

In June 2026 Spanish media SoyMotor alleged that Tsolov has a guaranteed seat at Racing Bulls for the 2027 Formula One season, in place of Liam Lawson, but that was later dismissed by the Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane.

In July it was revealed by Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer that the team are planning to hold a Testing of Previous Cars(TPC) test with Tsolov later in the year.

His second running in Formula One machinery was at the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed, where he drove the Red Bull RB8 painted with a Racing Bulls livery.

On 27 August 2026, Tsolov completed his first Formula 1 Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) test at Imola, driving the Racing Bulls VCARB 02. He completed 690 km, more than double the required 300 km for participation in an FP1 session, with his best time being reported as 1:16.95.

Karting record Karting career summary

Complete CIK-FIA Karting European Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points 2020 DPK Racing OKJ ZUEQH ZUER SARQH SARR WACQH WACR 19th 8 2021 DPK Racing OK GENQH GENR AUBQH AUBR SARQH SARR ZUEQH ZUER 4th 55

Complete Karting World Championship results Year Team Class Quali Heats Main race 2020 DPK Racing OKJ4th 7th 2021 DPK Racing OK 7th5th Racing record

Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles Podiums Points Position 2022 F4 Spanish Championship Campos Racing 21 13 15 17 18 400 1st 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship R&B Racing by GRS 3 0 0 0 0 10 23rd FIA Formula 3 Championship ART Grand Prix 18 0 0 0 0 6 22nd Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 DNF Eurocup-3 GRS Team 4 0 2 2 2 44 10th 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship ART Grand Prix 18 3 0 1 3 75 11th Eurocup-3 GRS Team 10 0 0 0 1 47 11th 2025 Eurocup-3 Spanish Winter Championship Campos Racing 3 0 0 0 0 22 12th FIA Formula 3 Championship 19 2 3 1 6 1242nd FIA Formula 2 Championship 4 0 0 0 1 12 18th 2026 FIA Formula 2 Championship Campos Racing 17 6 0 2 8 161* 1st* Season still in progress.

Complete F4 Spanish Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Pos Points 2022 Campos Racing ALG1 ALG2 ALG3 JER1 JER2 JER3 CRT1 CRT2 CRT3 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 ARA1 ARA2 ARA3 NAV1 NAV2 NAV3 CAT1 CAT2 CAT3 1st 400

Complete Formula Regional Middle East Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 DC Points 2023 R&B Racing (GRS) DUB11 DUB12 DUB13 KUW11 KUW12 KUW13 KUW21 KUW22 KUW23 DUB21 DUB22 DUB23 ABU1 ABU2 ABU3 23rd 10 – Driver did not finish the race but was classified, as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of the top-10 finishers)

Complete Macau Grand Prix results Year Team Car Qualifying Quali Race Main race 2023 ART Grand Prix Dallara F3 2019 15th 13th DNF

Complete Eurocup-3 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 DC Points 2023 GRS Team SPA1 SPA2 ARA1 ARA2 MNZ1 MNZ2 ZAN1 ZAN2 JER1 JER2 EST1 EST2 CRT1 CRT2 CAT1 CAT2 10th 44 2024 GRS Team SPA1 SPA2 RBR1 RBR2 POR1 POR2 POR3 LEC1 LEC2 ZAN1 ZAN2 ARA1 ARA2 JER1 JER2 CAT1 CAT2 11th 47

Complete Eurocup-3 Spanish Winter Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points 2025 Campos Racing JER1 JER2 JER3 POR1 POR2 POR3 ARA1 ARA2 12th 22

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of the top-10 finishers) Season still in progress.