Nikola Tsolov

In this Bulgarian name, the patronymic is Dimitrovand the family name is Tsolov.

Nikola Tsolov
Tsolov during the 2024 Spielberg Formula 3 round
Nationality	Bulgarian
Born	(2006-12-21) 21 December 2006 (age 18) Sofia, Bulgaria
FIA Formula 3 Championship career
Debut season	2023
Current team	Campos Racing
Car number	12
Former teams	ART Grand Prix
Starts	40 (40 entries)
Wins	4
Podiums	4
Poles	0
Fastest laps	1
Best finish	11th in 2024
Previous series
2023 2023 2022 2018–21	Eurocup-3 FR Middle East Championship F4 Spanish Championship Karting
Championship titles
2022	F4 Spanish Championship

Nikola Dimitrov Tsolov (Bulgarian : Никола Димитров Цолов; Bulgarian pronunciation: [ni'kɔɫadimiˈtrɔfˈt͡sɔɫɔf] ; born 21 December 2006) is a Bulgarian racing driver who is the champion of the 2022 F4 Spanish Championship. He is currently competing with Campos Racing in the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship, after racing with ART Grand Prix for two seasons.

Tsolov was a member of the Alpine Academy from 2022 until 2024, ^[1] before moving to the Red Bull Junior Team.

Career

Karting

The Bulgarian lion (a nickname that he gained early in his career) ^[2] started his karting career in 2016, supported by his father Dimitar. ^[3] He became Republican champion in 2016 and 2017 in the Bulgarian Mini class. In 2018 he moved to the Italian championships. ^[4] Driving one of Kart Republic's machines for DPK Racing adorned in the colours of Fernando Alonso's FA Racing outfit, Tsolov was one of the breakout stars this year having gone from Mini to OK-J to OK in successive years. ^[5]

He won the WSK Open Cup in 60 Mini karts in 2019, came seventh in the junior world championship last year and then was absolutely on it at the senior level in 2021. ^[6] Tsolov was invited by Fernando Alonso to drive alongside him in the 2021 edition of 24h Endurance race in Dubai, where they finished 3rd. ^{[7] [8]}

Formula 4

2022

After being on the radar of Fernando Alonso for 2 years, in March 2022 the Two times world champion announced the start of A14 Management with Tsolov and Clément Novalak becoming the first drivers joining the program, with Tsolov granting a place in the F4 Spanish Championship for 2022. ^[9] On 10 March 2022, Tsolov was announced as a driver of Campos. ^[10] He started Spanish F4 season at Algarve with double pole. ^[11] On the first race he started on pole, but unfortunately finished 14th, after a problem at the start, gained a 5th place on the second and won the third start with setting the fastest lap in every race. ^[12] He kept the good pace in the second round on the Circuito de Jerez with setting a poleposition and a fast lap in all three races with finishing second on the first race and winning second and third race which made him a leader in the championship. ^[13] The next weekend on Circuit Ricardo Tormo he completed his full dominance, winning all three starts with getting 2 pole-positions and another 3 fastest laps. ^[14] Tsolov secured his championship win on 2 October, after finishing second in the third race on Circuito de Navarra, winning the title 3 races before the end of season. ^[15]

Formula Regional Middle East

In February 2023, Tsolov took part in the last round of 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship driving for R&B Racing by GRS, as part of his preparation for Formula 3 season. ^[16] In the first race in the weekend he finished in 9th place, finishing on 6th place in the second race and 15th in the third one. He was the only driver to score points for R&B Racing in the championship. ^[17]

FIA Formula 3

2023

Tsolov driving the Dallara F3 2019 during the 2023 Spielberg Formula 3 round

In September 2022, Tsolov took part in the FIA Formula 3 post-season test, driving for ART Grand Prix. ^{[18] [19] [20]} On 19 December it was announced that he will be one of ART Grand Prix drivers for the 2023 season. ^[21] Tsolov scored two points finishes in the sprint races in Spa-Francorhamps and Monza. He finished the season in 22nd place.

Tsolov at the 2023 Macau Grand Prix

2024

Tsolov driving for ART Grand Prix during the 2024 Spielberg Formula 3 round

ART Grand Prix retained Tsolov for the 2024 season. ^[22] His first victory came in 2024, where he won the sprint race in Monaco on the weekend of 23-26 May. His second win of the season came in the sprint race in round 6 of the championship in Spielberg. Tsolov would miss the round at Spa-Francorchamps due to racing there in Eurocup-3 because of the rule that you cannot drive at an circuit on the F3 or F2 calendar if you race there earlier in the year. If you do you cannot participate in the F3 or F2 event at that circuit. Because Tsolov was barred from competing he was replaced by Tuukka Taponen. ^[23]

2025

Tsolov returned to Campos Racing, the team he won the 2022 F4 Spanish Championship with, for his third Formula 3 season for 2025, partnering Mari Boya and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak. ^[24]

Eurocup-3

2023

Shortly after his FIA Formula 3 season, Tsolov contested in the 2023 Eurocup-3 season with GRS Team. He entried 2 of the 8 rounds, finishing the championship in 10th place with two podiums. ^[25]

2024

Alongside his FIA Formula 3 campaign, Tsolov signed with GRS Team to compete in the full 2024 Eurocup-3 season. ^[26]

2025

In the 2025 off-season, Tsolov competed in one round of the 2025 Eurocup-3 Spanish Winter Championship with Campos Racing. ^[27] He finished races one and two in fourth place, and retired from race three. He currently sits 11th in the standings with 22 points.

Formula One

Tsolov became a member of the Alpine Affiliate programme in March 2022. ^[28] On 14 February 2023 he was promoted to a full member of Alpine Academy. ^[29] On 4 November 2024, Tsolov announced on social media that he would leave the academy with immediate effect. ^[30]

However, just a day later, he was announced to be joining the Red Bull Junior Team for 2025. ^[31]

Karting record

Karting career summary

Season	Series	Team	Position
2016	Bulgarian Republic Championship – Mini		1st
2017	Bulgarian Republic Championship – Mini		1st
	ROK Cup Italy – Mini ROK	Speed Kart	25th
2018	WSK Open Cup – 60 Mini	Birel ART Racing	33rd
	WSK Final Cup – 60 Mini		21st
2019	South Garda Winter Cup – Mini ROK	Newman Motorsport	14th
	WSK Super Master Series – 60 Mini		14th
	Italian Championship – 60 Mini	Team Driver Racing Kart	12th
	Trofeo delle Industrie – 60 Mini		11th
	WSK Euro Series – 60 Mini		11th
	ROK Cup Superfinal – Mini ROK		12th
	WSK Open Cup – 60 Mini		1st
	WSK Final Cup – 60 Mini		13th
2020	WSK Champions Cup – OKJ	DPK Racing	11th
	South Garda Winter Cup – OKJ		11th
	WSK Super Master Series – OKJ		NC
	CIK-FIA European Championship – OKJ		19th
	WSK Euro Series – OKJ		11th
	Champions of the Future – OKJ		15th
	CIK-FIA World Championship – OKJ		7th
	WSK Open Cup – OK		5th
2021	WSK Champions Cup – OK	DPK Racing	8th
	WSK Super Master Series – OK		8th
	WSK Euro Series – OK		4th
	Italian Karting Championship – X30 Senior		2nd
	CIK-FIA European Championship – OK		4th
	WSK Open Cup – OK		5th
	Champions of the Future – OK		3rd
	CIK-FIA World Championship – OK		5th
	South Garda Winter Cup – OK		4th
	WSK Final Cup – OK		2nd
Sources: [32] [33]

Complete CIK-FIA Karting European Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	DC	Points
2020	DPK Racing	OKJ	ZUE QH 15	ZUE R 8	SAR QH 13	SAR R NR	WAC QH 43	WAC R DNQ			19th	8
2021	DPK Racing	OK	GEN QH 7	GEN R 5	AUB QH 14	AUB R 29	SAR QH 1	SAR R 2	ZUE QH 2	ZUE R 17	4th	55

Complete Karting World Championship results

Year	Team	Class	Quali Heats	Main race
2020	DPK Racing	OKJ	4th	7th
2021	DPK Racing	OK	7th	5th

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2022	F4 Spanish Championship	Campos Racing	21	13	15	17	18	400	1st
2023	Formula Regional Middle East Championship	R&B Racing by GRS	3	0	0	0	0	10	23rd
	FIA Formula 3 Championship	ART Grand Prix	18	0	0	0	0	6	22nd
	Macau Grand Prix		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
	Eurocup-3	GRS Team	4	0	2	2	2	44	10th
2024	FIA Formula 3 Championship	ART Grand Prix	18	3	0	1	3	75	11th
	Eurocup-3	GRS Team	10	0	0	0	1	47	11th
2025	Eurocup-3 Spanish Winter Championship	Campos Racing	3	0	0	0	0	22	12th
	FIA Formula 3 Championship		4	1	0	0	1	23*	5th*

* Season still in progress.

Complete F4 Spanish Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Pos	Points
2022	Campos Racing	ALG 1 14	ALG 2 1	ALG 3 5	JER 1 2	JER 2 1	JER 3 1	CRT 1 1	CRT 2 1	CRT 3 1	SPA 1 1	SPA 2 1	SPA 3 1	ARA 1 2	ARA 2 1	ARA 3 4	NAV 1 3	NAV 2 2	NAV 3 3	CAT 1 1	CAT 2 1	CAT 3 1	1st	400

Complete Formula Regional Middle East Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	DC	Points
2023	R&B Racing (GRS)	DUB1 1	DUB1 2	DUB1 3	KUW1 1	KUW1 2	KUW1 3	KUW2 1	KUW2 2	KUW2 3	DUB2 1	DUB2 2	DUB2 3	ABU 1 9	ABU 2 6	ABU 3 15	23rd	10

† – Driver did not finish the race but was classified, as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.
* Season still in progress.

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

Year	Team	Car	Qualifying	Quali Race	Main race
2023	ART Grand Prix	Dallara F3 2019	15th	13th	DNF

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2023	ART Grand Prix	BHR SPR 26	BHR FEA 15	MEL SPR 11	MEL FEA 21	MON SPR 14	MON FEA 11	CAT SPR 13	CAT FEA 19	RBR SPR 16	RBR FEA 16	SIL SPR 15	SIL FEA 11	HUN SPR Ret	HUN FEA 25	SPA SPR 7	SPA FEA 17	MNZ SPR 9	MNZ FEA 12			22nd	6
2024	ART Grand Prix	BHR SPR 4	BHR FEA 11	MEL SPR 20	MEL FEA 19	IMO SPR 13	IMO FEA 26	MON SPR 1	MON FEA 27	CAT SPR 13	CAT FEA 6	RBR SPR 1	RBR FEA 6	SIL SPR 5	SIL FEA 15	HUN SPR 29	HUN FEA 1	SPA SPR	SPA FEA	MNZ SPR 19	MNZ FEA 17	11th	75
2025	Campos Racing	MEL SPR 8	MEL FEA Ret	BHR SPR 1	BHR FEA 5	IMO SPR	IMO FEA	MON SPR	MON FEA	CAT SPR	CAT FEA	RBR SPR	RBR FEA	SIL SPR	SIL FEA	SPA SPR	SPA FEA	HUN SPR	HUN FEA	MNZ SPR	MNZ FEA	5th*	23*

* Season still in progress.

Complete Eurocup-3 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	DC	Points
2023	GRS Team	SPA 1	SPA 2	ARA 1	ARA 2	MNZ 1	MNZ 2	ZAN 1	ZAN 2	JER 1 2	JER 2 2	EST 1	EST 2	CRT 1 9	CRT 2 Ret	CAT 1 WD	CAT 2 WD		10th	44
2024	GRS Team	SPA 1 Ret	SPA 2 C	RBR 1	RBR 2	POR 1 9	POR 2 9	POR 3 8	LEC 1	LEC 2	ZAN 1 6	ZAN 2 8	ARA 1 5	ARA 2 3	JER 1 10	JER 2 Ret	CAT 1	CAT 2	11th	47

Complete Eurocup-3 Spanish Winter Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	DC	Points
2025	Campos Racing	JER 1 4	JER 2 4	JER 3 Ret	POR 1	POR 2	POR 3	ARA 1	ARA 2	12th	22

References

1. "Nikola Tsolov". Alpine Cars . Retrieved 5 November 2024.
2. Момче от България с реални шансове да бъде пилот от Формула 1
3. Талантливият новобранец
4. Българчето, което впечатли легендата Фернандо Алонсо
5. Никола Цолов: Голямата ми мечта е "Формула 1"
6. The top karting stars of 2021
7. 15-годишен прославя България в картинга в отбора на Алонсо
8. Никола Цолов: Искам да съм първият българин във Формула 1
9. Alonso starts A14 management; reveals Novalak & Tsolov as first signings
10. Bulgaria’s Nikola Tsolov joins Campos Racing in Spanish F4
11. Nikola Tsolov starts Spanish F4 season at Algarve with double pole
12. Alonso protege Nikola Tsolov wins in first weekend in cars in Spanish F4
13. Crónica: Nikola Tsolov se confirma como favorito en la segunda cita de la Fórmula 4
14. Никола Цолов с четвърта поредна победа във Формула 4
15. Никола Цолов стана шампион на Формула 4 Испания
16. Никола Цолов ще вземе участие в три старта на Яс Марина
17. Никола Цолов завърши 15-ти в Абу Даби
18. "Formula 3 returns to action with post-season testing in Jerez". FIA_Formula 3 – The Official F3 Website. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
19. "Jerez post-season testing Day 2 entry list". FIA_Formula 3 – The Official F3 Website. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
20. "Jerez post-season testing Day 3 entry list". FIA_Formula 3 – The Official F3 Website. 22 September 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
21. Spanish F4 champion Tsolov joins ART GP in F3
22. "ART Grand Prix confirm Nikola Tsolov for 2024 season". FIA_Formula 3® - The Official F3® Website. 10 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
23. "Tsolov's maiden F3 win in Monaco 'a step out the hole I've been stuck in'". Formula Scout. 25 May 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
24. "Campos Racing sign Nikola Tsolov for the 2025 Formula 3 season". FIA_Formula 3® - The Official F3® Website. 5 November 2024. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
25. Wood, Ida (21 September 2023). "GRS to run all-new Eurocup-3 line-up and Spanish F4 debutants at Jerez". Formula Scout. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
26. Alonso Lopez, Alejandro (16 April 2024). "Nikola Tsolov and Isaac Barashi to race for GRS in Eurocup-3". Formula Scout. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
27. Spanish Winter Championship (6 February 2025). "Here are the drivers that will take part of the first ever round of the #SpanishWinterChampionship". Instagram .
28. Alpine launches new ‘Affiliate’ driver programme
29. "Mini and Tsolov join Alpine Academy for 2023 season". FIA_Formula 3 – The Official F3 Website. 14 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
30. Wood, Ida (5 November 2024). "Nikola Tsolov announces departure from Alpine Academy". Formula Scout. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
31. Wood, Ida (6 November 2024). "Red Bull add Niklas Schaufler and Nikola Tsolov to junior team for 2025". Formula Scout. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
32. "Nikola Tsolov". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
33. kartcom (2018-06-21). "Tsolov Nikola". Kartcom. Retrieved 2022-05-26.

External links

• Nikola Tsolov career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Dilano van 't Hoff	F4 Spanish Championship Champion 2022	Succeeded by Théophile Naël