F1 News: Red Bull star reacts to team boss' unexpected backing for promotion

Tsolov in FIA Formula 2 — Photo: © Red Bull Content Pool

F1 News & Gossip

Red Bull star reacts to team boss' unexpected backing for F1 promotion

He certainly looks like he's good enough!

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Monday 17 August 2026 17:28

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Red Bull star Nikola Tsolov has reacted to his F2 team boss hyping him up for a promotion to F1, as rumours of a Racing Bulls move continue to swirl.

F2 team owner Adrian Campos said after a fantastic weekend at Silverstone earlier in the summer that Tsolov 'really deserves' a chance to prove himself against the best of the best, comments which the Bulgarian admitted took him by surprise.

Tsolov's sweep of the sprint and feature races at the British Grand Prix weekend helped him to his current spot at the very top of the standings as just a 19-year-old rookie, with his progress being closely monitored by a number of key figures in the sport.

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Even Racing Bulls boss Alan Permane said recently: "To say he’s on the radar [for the team] would be a little bit of an understatement. He’s next in line, I think it’s fair to say."

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Campos backing for F1 'means a lot'

Quoted by F1.com this week, Tsolov reacted to Campos' words backing him for the leap to join – most likely – his brief Campos team-mate Arvid Lindblad at the Red Bull junior team, saying: "It does mean a lot. I wouldn't expect him to say that, but we're a family like I've always been saying.

"I'm grateful to be able to work with them as well because for me, that's been a big key in my career as well and as much as he says that, I do feel like they've been making the difference for me as well.

"Not only by setting up the car, but also creating the right environment inside the team, so I do feel like this is something that's not looked at enough.

"There are teams that work very well around the car, but the environment is not as good, so for me putting your driver in the right mindset can lead to what we're achieving this year."

Red Bull 'obviously really happy' with Tsolov

On the Red Bull side of things, Tsolov added: "They're obviously really happy with me, but there's nothing that has been talked about, nothing clear. It's just keep doing what you're doing, you're doing great, but there's not much more than that to be honest.

"Obviously Red Bull themselves have prepared me for all this, what's happening now and because of their help I'm able to achieve those results as well. But we haven't reached the point where there's anything more than that, we're just focusing on F2 right now.

"It means a lot to me, obviously it means that people are appreciating and they believe in what I do. I believe in myself as well and I really do feel like this year has been great and I should deserve a chance.

"But things are never certain in this sport, so it's all about taking every opportunity I get from now on and focus on F2, because that's the only thing that can really help me progress up the ladder."