Racing Bulls has several options for 2027: keep Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad or promote Nikola Tsolov if the Bulgarian confirms his remarkable first season in Formula 2.
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Nikola Tsolov is officially among the drivers considered by Racing Bulls for the 2027 season.
While the Bulgarian impresses in his first year in F2, Alan Permane assures that the team is not in a hurry to make a decision.
A situation that maintains uncertainty around Liam Lawson, currently forced to alternate between Racing Bulls and Red Bull depending on Isack Hadjar’s health status.
A rich problem
The Racing Bulls lineup for 2027 is still far from decided. Team principal Alan Permane confirmed that the team wants to take its time before determining the identity of its future drivers: “It’s still a bit early for us, to be honest. Traditionally, we wait a bit longer. We are under no pressure to announce what we will do next year.”
Among the candidates is now clearly Tsolov. The Bulgarian is having a particularly remarkable first season in Formula 2 as he leads the championship: “Nikola is obviously part of our considerations and he is having an incredible season. First season in F2 and he leads the championship. Everything is in his favor.”
Permane nevertheless recalls that Racing Bulls already has two drivers he considers very capable with Lawson and Lindblad: “That said, I also have two fantastic drivers with Liam and Arvid, so it’s a rather pleasant problem to have.”
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Lawson penalized by his car changes
Lawson’s situation is all the more particular as he currently does not know with which team he will compete in the upcoming races. The New Zealander temporarily left Racing Bulls to join Red Bull Racing to replace Isack Hadjar, who is wrist-injured. Yuki Tsunoda thus took over his seat at Racing Bulls.
For Lawson, regularly switching from the VCARB03 to the RB22 complicates his work: “The current uncertainty about which car I will drive from one weekend to the next is not ideal. The Racing Bulls VCARB03 and the Red Bull RB22 are so different to drive that it’s really not ideal.”
His immediate future notably depends on Hadjar’s recovery, whose return date to Red Bull remains uncertain.
Tsolov does not want to rush things
For his part, Tsolov prefers not to think too much about a possible promotion to Formula 1: “I remain fully focused on Formula 2. I have to finish the season, so I take the races one after the other, day by day. I think that’s the best thing I can do, even for myself.”
The Bulgarian recently took an important step by driving an F1 car for the first time during a test with Racing Bulls: “There was so much going on. Obviously, you want to perform, but at the same time you don’t want to have an accident. And you also want to enjoy it. So it was a mix of emotions.”
After a few laps, Tsolov says he quickly felt comfortable, notably thanks to the work done previously in the simulator: “As soon as I did a few laps during my first outing, I started to feel more and more relaxed. I was simply relieved to be able to live my dream at that moment. I quickly became quite confident because the simulator is really very close to what I discovered in reality.”
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