Tsolov wary of 'noise' amid Red Bull F1 seat speculation

Formula 2 championship leader Nikola Tsolov has insisted he remains focused on his title charge rather than being distracted by rumours linking him to a Formula 1 race seat with Red Bull. The young Bulgarian has been touted as the "next in line" to step up to F1, but is aware that speculation can backfire.

Tsolov, racing for Campos Racing in his debut F2 season, has impressed after finishing runner-up in F3 last year. He currently leads the standings with five rounds remaining. If he clinches the title, his path to F1 becomes clearer, as feeder series rules prevent champions from defending their crown.

Racing Bulls boss Peter Bayer has already named Tsolov as a strong candidate for a seat at the Faenza-based squad. However, the situation is complicated: the current pairing of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad has been solid, leaving a vacancy only if Max Verstappen decides to leave Red Bull at the end of the season.

Baca JugaTsolov Waspadai 'Kebisingan' di Tengah Spekulasi Kursi F1 Red Bull

Amid this, Tsolov chooses to isolate himself from the "noise" that could cause trouble. "Obviously I try to distance myself from it, isolate a little bit," he told F1.com. "The noise can really get you into trouble. But honestly I’ve been handling it pretty well, because it’s not something I necessarily didn’t expect to happen. I didn’t expect it to be such a big boom, but it is what it is."

Tsolov switched from Alpine to the Red Bull junior programme last season. He is also scheduled to conduct a TPC test with Racing Bulls at Imola later this month to gather enough superlicense points for an FP1 outing. Winning the F2 title would theoretically earn him enough points for an F1 seat.

Despite the rumours, Tsolov revealed that talks with Red Bull have not progressed significantly. "They’re obviously really happy with me, but there’s nothing that has been talked about, nothing clear," he said. "It’s just keep doing what you’re doing, you’re doing great, but there’s not much more than that. Red Bull have prepared me for all this, and because of their help I’m able to achieve these results. But we haven’t reached the point where there’s anything more."

With his full focus on F2, Tsolov aims to deliver more strong performances in the remaining rounds. "The season we are achieving right now is great and I think there is more to come," he added, determined not to let speculation derail his momentum.