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Promising Red Bull talent reveals details of latest conversation with Helmut Marko

20:02, 23 Feb

Updated: 20:08, 23 Feb

byShanna Lutgert

Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov was brought in by Helmut Marko and quickly labeled as one of the most promising talents of the future. Since then, the Austrian is no longer at the helm of the Red Bull junior programme. The F2 rookie talked about his last conversation with Marko.

"He managed to build that structure that still works now."

- Nikola Tsolov

The 19-year-old was initially part of Alpine’s driver development program but signed with the Red Bull juniors in November 2024. As Red Bull Racing’s top advisor, Marko oversaw the development of Red Bull’s future stars.

"He called me the day before [his departure] was announced," Tsolov said in response to a question from GPblog.

"I was in Abu Dhabi for the test. And he basically told me everything is staying the same way. You still have to perform, you still have to win races. And that's the number one thing. And he said, I did it well last year in Formula 3 and all he's expecting is for me to do it once again and nothing else should change."

Tsolov added: "Really, everything has been pretty much the same way since he left. So he managed to build that structure that still works now, which is good."

Helmut Marko will see promising things in Nikola Tsolov - Photo: RacePictures

Tsolov must shine in Formula 2

At the start of the year, GPblog reported that Red Bull had let two juniors go: Oliver Goethe and Tim Tramnitz. The two did not perform well enough to stay with Red Bull, which Goethe seemed to find somewhat odd. This year, Tsolov will contest his first full F2 season with Campos Racing. For him, the mission is clear: perform as well as possible to get on the radar for a Formula 1 seat.

"I want the season to start," Tsolov continued, who is counting down the days to the race in Melbourne.

"I want to see how the car performs, because in testing is a bit difficult to say. But I think we're looking pretty decent and competitive so far. I don't think I'm afraid of anything right now. I'm just still trying to figure out the perfect way to drive the car.

"It's obviously a really strange and difficult car even compared to F3 and anything I've driven before. It's very edgy, so there's a fine line to be quick, and I'm going to keep exploring it throughout the season, because I don't think you ever get to really perfect it. So that's going to be my target, and I'm not really afraid of anything at the moment."