In order to analyze the temperature distribution of circuit breaker tulip contact, thermal field simulation model for tulip contact is built combined with the electromagnetic-stress-thermal coupled finite element simulation and virtual material method which models the contact resistance characteristics of tulip contact. The temperature rise characteristic of tulip contacts under rated current condition and short-circuit condition is analyzed with the model. Results show that virtual material method can describe the shrinkage resistance and additional resistance at the end of the contact finger simultaneously, and is capable to simulate the partial high temperature of the contact interface. Then, the influence of spring pressure and pressure uniformity on the thermal field of tulip contact is analyzed. Results show that the decrease of spring pressure and the imbalance of contact finger pressure may lead to the increase of the temperature rise of the tulip contact. The proposed method can be used as a reference for the design and the overheating analysis of tulip contact.