Nikola Tsolov’s FP1 appearance for Racing Bulls in Mexico has put a further spotlight on the driver log jam in the Red Bull camp.
A frontrunner in F2 this year who has already logged F1 mileage through TPC running at Imola, Tsolov would ordinarily be primed for a Racing Bulls race seat in 2027.
The fact that in recent years Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad all took part in FP1 sessions in Mexico indicates that it’s a rite of passage of sorts.
Indeed, a few weeks ago Racing Bulls Team Principal Alan Permane made it clear that there is a three-into-two scenario, confirming that Tsolov is very much in the frame.
The challenge for Red Bull’s management is that all three of the aforementioned drivers have performed superbly this season, and with Hadjar already confirmed alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull there won’t be any changes at the senior team.
As the only rookie in the 2026 field, Lindblad has impressed, and from the outside it seems obvious that his job isn’t under threat. The Briton is relaxed about waiting for firm news.
“In the end, I’m just focused on my year and doing as best as I can,” said Lindblad. “I know that’s the thing that’s going to help me. Always, when performance is better, that helps.
“Honestly, it’s not something I’ve wasted too much energy on. I’ve been part of Red Bull for a long time. I’m very much part of this family. So it’s not something that I’m wasting much energy on.”
Lawson’s case isn’t so clear cut. At the start of this season most observers would have assumed that his long-term future was uncertain, and that he would be the obvious man to be dropped should Red Bull promote a youngster.
The New Zealander has made life more difficult for his bosses by not only regularly making Q3 and scoring points with Racing Bulls, but also by doing a solid job when he subbed for the injured Hadjar at the senior team. Dropping him now would be a harsh decision, to say the least.
“I just feel like it’s been a very strong year for us,” he explained. “And especially the second half, things have been very, very strong. And trying to find that consistency in F1 is very, very hard, and it can go away from you very quickly.
“And with how many variables there are, it’s obviously something that’s always a factor, but for us, I think we’ve maximised really a lot this year, especially the second half.
“I’m not really sure much what more is expected, but I’m also not really sitting there thinking too much about the whole seat selection thing. A year ago I thought about it a lot, it was very much in my head. And you just drive worse – you just overthink things.
“So this year I feel like I haven’t really thought about it much at all. And things have been strong, so I’m just trying to keep that keep that mindset up, trying to score as many points as I can in the season.”
Whatever happens, at least Lawson knows that he’s done the best job he can.
“That’s the biggest thing as a driver,” he said. “You come away from a weekend sometimes, and even if you can’t score points, I think the biggest thing is personally you want to be able to walk away and feel like you’ve done everything you can. And if you’ve done that, that’s a satisfying feeling.
“Well it can be at least. It’s more satisfying than if you don’t, if you make a mistake or something like that. There are always things you can do better, and I’m sure looking over the year, there’s a lot of things to tidy up.
“But overall, I feel like I’ve done a very strong season, and if I wasn’t driving next year, I would feel like there wasn’t much more that I could have done.”
Ultimately the key to his survival in a race seat could be those races he did for Red Bull. The traditional purpose of the Faenza team has always been to provide drivers to the senior outfit, and thus those who were no longer felt to be potential graduates have generally been dropped.
After the disappointment of 2025, Lawson seized his second chance at the Milton Keynes team.
“There was a lot of talk over the last 12 months after I left Red Bull that that maybe I wasn’t a driver that could be good enough to drive in Red Bull, because of my start,” he said.
“And it’s not really something I spoke too much about, but going back to the start of 2025, we did half a day in Jerez before the season, we had a compromised Bahrain test, and we had Melbourne where we missed P3 with an engine issue, and then China was a Sprint, and that was it.
“So versus this year, I feel like obviously having a lot more experience going into Red Bull this year, maybe if there’s one thing I take from it, it’s that at least I could show people that I can drive that car – or any car.”
