Nikola Tsolov wrote a historical page in Bulgarian motor sport after becoming the first native driver to participate in an official Formula 1 session. The 19-year-old talent was given the opportunity to drive the Racing Bulls VCARB 03 car in the first free practice session before the Mexico City Grand Prix and performed impressively, finishing in 12th place.
The Bulgarian lion recorded a best lap of 1:19.604 minutes, achieving the result on his third fast lap with the Pirelli soft tires. Thus, he was only 0.126 seconds behind his teammate Arvid Lindblad, who finished tenth.
Tsolov started the session with the medium-hard type of tires, doing two sets of laps and gradually improving his performance. At times, the Bulgarian even climbed to the top six positions, showing quick adaptation to the car and the peculiarities of the “Hermanos Rodriguez“ track.
The only more serious incident in his performance came during the second set. When braking for the first turn, Tsolov blocked the front left tire. In a conversation with his engineers, he explained that the bottom of the car touched the asphalt at the beginning of the braking zone, which led to a momentary lift and blocking of the wheel.
Then the Bulgarian pilot switched to the soft tires and it was with them that he recorded his fastest time. He made three fast laps, between which he took breaks to cool the car, and reinforced the good impression of his debut session.
In the last part of the training session, Tsolov experienced physical discomfort due to a leg cramp and had to temporarily return to the pits. However, after a short break, he managed to get back on the track and accumulate more laps before the end of the session.
In the end, the 19-year-old Bulgarian finished with a total of 29 laps and 12th time - a more than decent performance in his first official participation in Formula 1.
The fastest in the training session was Charles Leclerc with Ferrari, who stopped the clocks at 1:18.128 minutes. Andrea Kimi Antonelli with Mercedes took second place, 0.659 seconds behind the leader, and third position was for Frederic Vesti. He replaced George Russell in one of the German team's cars.
Lewis Hamilton finished fourth, followed by Ayumu Iwasa, who sat behind the wheel of Max Verstappen's car. The top 10 was completed by Pierre Gasly, Fernando Alonso, Oscar Piastre, Oliver Bearman and Arvid Lindblad.
A total of ten young drivers took part in the first free practice session in Mexico. Ferrari was the only team to rely on its two starting drivers.
Nikola Tsolov's strong performance also attracted the attention of the official Formula 1 website. They noted that the Bulgarian's pace was close to that of his teammate Lindblad. The publication also recalled that Racing Bulls has not yet announced its lineup for the 2027 season, with Tsolov's good results in Formula 2 placing him among the young drivers worthy of attention.
The Mexico City Grand Prix program, the 19th round of the 2026 season, continues with the second free practice session, which begins at 00:00 Bulgarian time. Then all 22 starting drivers will return to the track.