Who is Nikola Tsolov? Everything to know about the Red Bull junior linked with Racing Bulls F1 seat

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The 2026 Formula 2 championship looks set to be a major battle between two young talents: Gabriele Mini and Nikola Tsolov. But who is Tsolov, and how has his career progressed?

Born on 21 December, 2006, Nikola Tsolov is one of the first drivers from Bulgaria to make it to a high-level open-wheel racing championship.

By the time Tsolov was nine years old, he had kicked off a career in karting that quickly evolved as he secured a handful of national and continental titles that demonstrated his talent.

Tsolov’s early success saw him signed to Alpine’s young driver programme in 2022, during which time he also competed in his first junior formula championship, the F4 Spanish Championship.

As a rookie, Tsolov absolutely dominated the Spanish F4 season and swept the title. Since then, Tsolov has not yet won another title.

But as a member of the Red Bull Junior Team, Tsolov is performing extremely well in the 2026 Formula 2 Championship.

Emerging as an F2 title contender as a rookie also saw Tsolov’s name quickly emerge as a candidate for a Formula 1 seat with Red Bull’s sister team, Racing Bulls, for 2027.

Reports started to emerge in June 2026 that suggested Red Bull have guaranteed Tsolov a seat at Racing Bulls for 2027, although the latter team and the driver himself quickly refuted those suggestions.

With that in mind, F1 Oversteer takes a look at everything that you need to know about Tsolov…

How old is Nikola Tsolov, and when is his birthday?

At the time of writing, Nikola Tsolov is 19 years old. He was born on 21 December, 2006.

Tsolov first began karting when he was nine years old, back in 2016. He credits his father, Dimitar, with helping him foster his love of racing; when a young Nikola expressed an interest in the sport, his father began to take him to the kart track every day after school to hone his skills.

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Where was Nikola Tsolov born, and what is his nationality?

Nikola Tsolov was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, which makes his nationality Bulgarian by birth. He also competes under a Bulgarian racing license.

Bulgaria is not exactly known for its flourishing racing scene, which means there have been few major competitors to hail from the country, or from the Balkans as a whole. Many of the major talents from the region opted instead to compete in rallying.

Some major Bulgarian racing talents include Ekaterina Stratieva, who won the European Ladies Rally Championship in 2014, 2015, and 2019; Nikolay Gryazin, who currently competes in the World Rally Championship; and Stefan Bostandjiev, who made his sports car debut in 2021.

In terms of open-wheel racing, Tsolov is one of just four major figures. Plamen Kralev was the first Bulgarian driver to race in Formula 2, and he made his debut back in 2010. Simeon Ivanov raced in Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 3.5. Vladimir Arabadzhiev made it as high as the GP2 Asia Series between 2009 and 2010.

What is Nikola Tsolov’s height?

Nikola Tsolov stands at 1.8m tall, or 5 foot 10. When compared to the rest of the 2026 Formula 2 field, Tsolov is on the shorter end of the average.

But Tsolov would be fairly tall when compared to much of the 2026 Formula 1 field. He is the exact same height as Charles Leclerc.

What are Nikola Tsolov’s ties to Fernando Alonso?

After kicking off his karting career in 2016, Nikola Tsolov’s performances impressed two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso so much that the Spaniard signed him to his FA Racing team – as well as to his A14 Management company.

Tsolov caught Alonso’s eye after progressing through the Bulgarian and Italian karting championships. In 2021, he finished second in the WSK Final Cup in the OK class, where he drove for DPK Racing, which was part of Alonso’s FA Racing team.

Those ties continued into 2022 as after Alonso founded his driver management company, he signed two drivers: Tsolov and Clement Novak.

Tsolov also joined Alonso, Pedro de la Rosa, Angel Burgueno, and Alberto Fernandez to compete in the 24 Hours of Dubai, where the group finished third.

Alonso’s A14 Management company no longer represents Tsolov, and it is currently unknown who now helps guide the Bulgarian’s racing career.

When did Nikola Tsolov join the Red Bull Junior Team?

Nikola Tsolov is a fairly new member of the Red Bull Junior Team. He announced that he would join the prestigious driver academy programme ahead of the 2025 season on 5 November, 2024.

Prior to that, Tsolov had been a part of the Alpine Academy programme. He joined the French junior team in March 2022, just as he made the transition from karting to professional single-seat competition.

Alpine supported him through the F3 Spanish Championship, followed by two years in FIA Formula 3.

Tsolov announced that he would be parting ways with the Alpine Academy with immediate effect on 4 November, 2024. One day later, he announced that he would join the Red Bull Junior Team.

With Red Bull’s support, Tsolov completed his final season in Formula 3 before making his Formula 2 debut at the end of 2025.

• READ MORE: All six drivers promoted from RB to Red Bull’s F1 team ranked with Max Verstappen verdict given

Has Nikola Tsolov raced a Formula 1 car?

Nikola Tsolov has driven a Formula 1 car just once, as of the time of writing.

After joining the Red Bull Junior Team in 2025, Tsolov was invited to drive a Red Bull RB7 at a show run in his hometown of Sofia, Bulgaria, alongside longtime Red Bull stalwart David Coulthard. Over 40,000 keen spectators crowded the streets to witness a local driver in F1 machinery for the first time.

That said, Tsolov is one of only nine members of the current Red Bull Junior Team, and he is the driver closest to Formula 1 as the only academy member competing in Formula 2.

As such, it is likely that he will be invited to drive a Red Bull machine again in a Testing of Previous Cars programme (TPC). But Tsolov cannot currently take part in an official F1 session, such as a Free Practice 1 session, as he does not currently hold an FIA superlicence.

Nikola Tsolov’s junior career highlights

• 2016 and 2017 Bulgarian Republic Champion, Mini Karting
• 2019 WSK Open Cup winner, 60 Mini
• 2021 Trofeo del Grifone winner, OK
• 2022 F4 Spanish Championship winner, with 13 wins in 20 races
• 2024 FIA Formula 3 victories: Monaco Sprint, Austria Sprint, Hungary Feature
• 2025 FIA Formula 3 victories: Bahrain Sprint, Monaco Feature
• 2025 FIA Formula 3 championship runner-up
• 2026 FIA Formula 2 victories: Melbourne Feature, Miami Sprint, Monaco Feature