Tsolov praised by Red Bull insider as Liam Lawson rumours answered
Should Liam Lawson fear for his F1 2027 seat with Nikola Tsolov on the rise?
David Coulthard says we should “listen for” the name of Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov. Rumours of pressure on the seat of Liam Lawson, amid Tsolov’s rise, were recently quashed.
Coulthard teased the idea of Tsolov, the Formula 2 Championship leader, being positioned by Red Bull elsewhere on the F1 2027 grid, should there be no room at the inn with its four seats. Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer recently denied the suggestion that Tsolov is guaranteed an F1 2027 seat with the team.
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Tsolov is turning heads in Formula 2. At Silverstone, he made history by becoming the first driver to win three consecutive F2 races.
That included doing the double at Silverstone, winning the sprint and feature race. That in itself is a very hard, and rare achievement to pull off, due to the reverse grid format which exists for F2 sprints.
Logically, the next step for Tsolov would be to conduct a TPC test [Testing of Previous Cars] to obtain his licence to compete in an FP1 session. Bayer told Sky F1 that this is in the works.
“We’re planning that for the autumn.”
As for landing an F1 race seat, a driver must score 40 points to obtain their necessary FIA Super Licence. Tsolov is on course to achieve that through his 2026 results alone.
A top three finish in the F2 standings is worth 40 points. Tsolov currently leads the way by 17 points from Alpine-backed Gabriele Mini. The driver in P4, Alex Dunne, is 49 behind Tsolov.
The rise of Tsolov, the 19-year-old from Sofia, Bulgaria, sparked unfounded rumours that he was poised to replace Liam Lawson at Racing Bulls, the Red Bull junior F1 team, from F1 2027.
PlanetF1.com understands the speculation to be wide of the mark. Bayer further suggested so when quizzed by Sky F1 on the rumours that Tsolov will drive for Racing Bulls next season.
“Those are just rumours,” he insisted.
“He’s doing a brilliant job and is a huge talent whom we naturally have on our radar.
“But we’ve only had seven races so far, and Liam and Arvid [Lindblad] are doing just as brilliant a job. So it’s not even on the cards at the moment.”
Indeed, Lawson is piecing together his most impressive F1 season to date, while rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad has made a fine start to Formula 1 life.
At the senior Red Bull team, Isack Hadjar is proving to be arguably Max Verstappen’s most competitive teammate since Daniel Ricciardo.
During an Up To Speed podcast appearance, it was suggested to Coulthard, the former Red Bull F1 driver who remains with the team as an ambassador, that Red Bull finds itself in a situation of having more talented drivers than seats, factoring Tsolov into the equation.
Coulthard is “looking forward” to seeing Tsolov “in Formula 1,” and suggested that Red Bull could place their exciting young talent elsewhere on the F1 2027 grid for now if needs be.
Of course, Lawson does not necessarily need to make way for Tsolov to find a Red Bull F1 opening.
Verstappen’s Red Bull future has become the biggest talking point of F1 2026. There could be opportunity for Tsolov depending on how that situation resolves itself.
“It’s a good problem to have,” said Coulthard of the Red Bull driver pool dilemma.
“I guess there’s always a possibility, if they’re happy with the others, that they could help position him [Tsolov] somewhere else.
“I think Red Bull are ahead of the game in terms of their motorsports investment and drivers over the history of time, if you look at what they’ve invested and now what the valuations are.
“So I don’t think they’re thinking, ‘Well, we’re getting to the limit of what we can afford to invest in this.’ So it’s a good problem to have.
“But I think, listen for that name, Nikola Tsolov from Bulgaria. Drives very well. Is a great personality out of the car as well. Looking forward to seeing him in Formula 1.”
More on Liam Lawson and Nikola Tsolov from PlanetF1.com
Racing Bulls responds to Nikola Tsolov rumours as Liam Lawson future questioned
Liam Lawson quizzed on F1 future as new Red Bull talent emerges
Tsolov already has one title to his name, having won the 2022 Spanish F4 Championship in dominant fashion.
Tsolov won the title with Campos. He rekindled this alliance in Formula 3, which coincided with a performance breakthrough, one which has continued with the step up to F2 with the Spanish squad.
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