Nikola Tsolov: F1 Dream is a Reality

Nikola Tsolov is one of the brightest young stars in Auto racing. At just 16 years old, he already has several achievements under his belt, most notably winning the 2022 Spanish Formula 4 Championship in his first season. This year, he is making an even bigger step towards Formula 1 by participating in the Formula 3 World Championship.

He is the youngest in F3 and one of the most inexperienced drivers, but that will not slow down his determination.“Being the youngest out there, the only one at 16, and with only one year of single-seaters, it's going to be a huge challenge, but I'm going to fight for it,” Tsolov said.

Single-seaters are unique cars that are designed for one person only. On the road to F1, young drivers have to compete in championships with these cars, as they most resemble the cars in F1 and help the drivers gain more experience.

Tsolov is from Sofia and when he started karting, he didn’t have much interest in the sport, but after driving more, he fell in love with it. “In the beginning, I was too small to drive so I was sitting with my father, and I was just turning the steering wheel and he was doing the pedal work,” he said. 

From a young age, he started achieving a lot of success in karting, and, during his time racing in Bulgaria, although he would win most races, it was never easy for him. He mentioned two key factors which contributed to his success: preparation and dedication to win.

After driving in Bulgaria for two years and winning the Republic Championship twice, Nikola headed towards Europe to face tougher competition. He started racing in Italy and initially some would assume that the move there would be very difficult, but for him, it wasn’t. “You don’t really have that big of life when you’re 10 years old. So, there’s nothing that you can cry about for hours,” he said.

Tsolov shared, “It was not easy with friends and the stuff that I did in Bulgaria, but in the end, it was fine for me, because I had a lot of friends at the track, and really, what I loved doing most was there, so I would sacrifice anything to do that.”

However, that doesn’t mean that there weren’t any challenges along the way. "When we went to Italy, we didn’t have an apartment or a house," he said, "We were just going from track to track. We were on the track every day. Sleeping in hotels, villas, etc."

He impressed many people within the motorsport community, including two-time F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso. Tsolov had been on Fernando’s radar for a while before eventually joining Alonso’s A14 Management. 

It is very rare to see a driver of such caliber investing in young drivers as much as Alonso has done with Tsolov. 

Tsolov admits that, over the last year and a half, Alonso has been the most helpful person in his career. “Fernando is the reason I was in F4 last year,” he said.

The transition from karting to F4 wasn’t easy for Tsolov. The difference in his words is, 'The car is way bigger, it has gears, it’s heavier, it has aerodynamics. It’s a completely different way of driving. A part which you never experience in karting is working with an engineer."

However, to many people’s surprise, he didn’t just thrive in F4, he excelled in it. He won the championship with a record of 400 points, while his closest competitor finished with 287. He made it look effortless, but he said, “The goal is to make it look easy when it’s actually not.” The results that are seen on track are thanks to the serious work drivers do off it, which the average person doesn’t see.

With the experience Tsolov gained in F4, many would imagine the transition into F3 to be much easier, but that’s far from the truth. “This is another huge step in my career and it’s probably going to be the biggest one. It’s like skipping a step because there is a championship in between F4 and F3. The difference from F3 to F1 is as much as F4 to F3,” he said. 

Even though the car is built similarly, the way it handles itself is completely different. Regarding this, he said that “you can go through the corners extremely quickly. It's quite unbelievable at first. The car is more powerful. The most difficult part is that you don’t have any time on the track to prepare.” 

Even with all the challenges there are to face, he said that “it really comes down to hard work and talent.”

A benefit of F3 is that all their races are a part of the F1 calendar, which will allow Tsolov to have better communication with his manager and receive stronger insights during race weekends, which was scarce in F4. He said, “It’s definitely going to help me, but it’s not going to be easy in F3.” 

The competition in F3 is quite fierce and Tsolov himself acknowledged it, saying, “F3 is always unpredictable.” Regarding the toughest drivers that he will face, he said “I can name you ten, but it’s not going to be an easy season.”

In 2023, Nikola Tsolov will be driving for the ART Grand Prix, one of the elite teams in the junior formulas. Last year, they won the championship with Victor Martins, who is now driving in F2. There have also been many incredible talents that have also been a part of this team – such as F1 World Champions Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, F1 race winners Valtteri Bottas and George Russell, and many other impressive drivers. 

When asked what it’s going to be like working with the team this season, he said “It’s going to be a really good part of my career. They won F3 with Victor last year and I’m getting his engineer, so I can get a lot of inside information on how he’s done the job.”

Nikola Tsolov has achieved so much at such a young age and the idea of seeing a Bulgarian make it to F1 is no longer a fantasy, but an actual possibility. He believes that Bulgarians can be inspired by him and start karting. “I’ve already seen some starting karting because of what I’ve achieved. Karters in Bulgaria are going to Europe and trying to achieve what I've done and get to the highest rank. It’s exciting to see that,” he said. 

In F1, there are only 20 drivers, which makes it extremely difficult to find a spot on a team. This is an issue for many young drivers on the brink of the pinnacle of motorsport. Asking Tsolov about what he thinks his chances are, he said, “There’s still a big way to go. I don’t need to worry about that just yet. I need to do my job, do it step by step because if you really deserve to be in F1 that much, you’re going to get there.” 

Tsolov still has a long way to go, but his excitement for racing is always there. “I just want to get started already, because I have no expectations. I don’t know if I’m going to be first, going to be last, it’s really a mystery to me. The season is up and down, you never really know,” he said. 

The journey to F1 is challenging, but Tsolov is considered one of the most talented young drivers in the world, and there is a strong possibility that one day his dream will come true.