Red Bull driver kept waiting: Racing Bulls chooses another driver for FP1

In the still-young Formula 2 season, Nikola Tsolov has already emerged as one of the title contenders. The Red Bull junior leads the standings after two weekends, although the margins are still particularly small. Tsolov has shown an upward trajectory, evidenced in part by his victory in the feature race in Australia.

Tsolov secretly dreams of a chance in Formula 1, as he told this site, starting with a free practice session: “I definitely want to make my Formula 1 debut at some point, but it depends on my results. If I keep performing like this, I should expect something like that to happen soon, and I will certainly get the opportunity.”

Each team must, four times per season, give a driver with a maximum of two Grands Prix to his name a chance to do a free practice session. For the Red Bull teams, that amounts to eight sessions in total in which Tsolov could in principle take part.

GPblog understands that Red Bull Racing has not yet decided who will replace Max Verstappen or Isack Hadjar during the four mandatory sessions. This website also hears that Racing Bulls currently has no plans involving Nikola Tsolov. At the moment, only free practice sessions with Ayumu Iwasa are scheduled, although it is not known when the Japanese driver will get to step in.

Iwasa will also be a regular test and reserve driver for Racing Bulls in 2026. He shares that role with compatriot Yuki Tsunoda. Due to his 114 Grands Prix, Tsunoda is not eligible to do a free practice session—at least not to satisfy the rookie requirement.