Racing Bulls Not Planning to Give Red Bull Junior Tsolov Practice Time in 2026

Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov is hoping for a Formula 1 practice session in 2026, but Racing Bulls currently have no plans to put him in the car. The Italian team has reserved those mandatory rookie sessions for Ayumu Iwasa. Tsolov, who leads the F2 standings after two weekends, will have to wait for his chance.

Why it matters:

This decision shapes Red Bull’s driver pipeline and Tsolov’s career trajectory. With teams required to run rookies four times per season, who gets those laps matters for future F1 seats.

The details:

• Tsolov, a Red Bull junior, has won the F2 feature race in Australia and leads the championship by a narrow margin.
• He told GPblog: “I definitely want to make my Formula 1 debut at some point. If I keep performing like this, I should expect something like that to happen soon.”
• Racing Bulls have no current plans involving Tsolov. Only Ayumu Iwasa is scheduled for mandatory rookie FP1 sessions, though the exact timing is unknown.
• Iwasa shares test and reserve duties for Racing Bulls with Yuki Tsunoda, who is ineligible for rookie sessions due to his 114 Grands Prix experience.
• Red Bull Racing itself hasn’t decided who will replace Max Verstappen or Isack Hadjar for their four rookie sessions.

What's next:

Tsolov must continue delivering strong results in F2 to potentially earn a practice opportunity later in the season. But Racing Bulls’ current stance suggests a closed door for now. If he maintains his title challenge, the situation could evolve – but for the moment, the Bulgarian will have to watch from the sidelines.