Racing Bulls boss Alan Permain was extremely pleased with Nikola Tsolov's performance during the first free practice session before the Mexico City Grand Prix. The Bulgarian driver got the opportunity to sit in Liam Lawson's car and made his debut in an official Formula 1 session.
Tsolov performed convincingly on the “Hermanos Rodriguez“ track, finishing the practice in 12th place. The Bulgarian was a second and a half behind the fastest driver in the session, Charles Leclerc with Ferrari, and his difference to teammate Arvid Lindblad was only one-tenth of a second.
Permain did not hide his satisfaction with the young driver's work and emphasized that the team was impressed with both his speed and the information he provided to the engineers.
„Like a textbook. He gives us very good feedback, he is only a tenth behind Arvid – there is nothing more we can ask of him. Before the session I told him that this is not an audition, because we know how fast he is“, the Racing Bulls boss told F1 TV.
He explained that the main purpose of Tsolov's participation was to assess his ability to work with the engineering team and provide useful information about the car's behavior. At the beginning of the training session, the Bulgarian also participated in aerodynamic tests, trying out different front wings.
„We are more interested in what feedback he gives us not only during the session, but also after it. Nikola did some aerodynamic tests at the beginning of the training session, when he tried out different front wings. From a tire and fuel perspective, he and Arvid had an identical program“, added Permain.
The team boss also commented on the selection of drivers for next season, making it clear that the final decision has not yet been made. Among the possibilities is that Nikola Tsolov will get a chance in Formula 1 next year.
„We are not in a hurry with our decision for next season. We are in a more than advantageous position to have three very strong drivers, but we will have to make a decision soon“, Permain concluded.