Bulgarian in an F1 car: Nikola Tsolov drives first practice in Mexico
Racing Bulls will run 19-year-old Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov in first practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix. He takes over Liam Lawson's car for his first official Formula 1 session.
Photo: Jen_ross83 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Video: YouTube · FORMULA 1 · youtube.com
It is a special day for Bulgarian motorsport: on Friday (19:30 CET) Nikola Tsolov will take part in his first official Formula 1 session at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Racing Bulls announced that the 19-year-old will drive Liam Lawson's VCARB 03 in first practice. Sportal.bg called it a historic moment. Tsolov had already tested the team's car at Imola in August.
"A big thank you to VCARB for giving me this opportunity in Mexico," Tsolov said, according to PlanetF1. Team principal Alan Permane said in the team's statement: "Running Nikola in FP1 is an important step in his development within the Red Bull Junior Programme." Tsolov joined Red Bull's junior team in 2025, won the Spanish F4 title in 2022 and was runner-up in Formula 3 in 2025.
In Formula 2 he races for Campos Racing and, according to PlanetF1, is second in the standings; Formula1.com describes a close title fight with Rafael Câmara. Racing Bulls has yet to announce its 2027 line-up. PlanetF1 reports that Lawson, Arvid Lindblad and Tsolov are in the frame – nothing is confirmed. Audi junior Freddie Slater also makes his practice debut in Mexico.