Nikola Tsolov said his Monaco Feature Race victory felt like “redemption” after the Campos Racing driver converted late pressure on Rafael Câmara into his second Feature Race win of the 2026 Formula 2 (F2) season.
Tsolov spent much of the race chasing polesitter Câmara through the streets of Monte Carlo. The Brazilian led from the start, while Tsolov held second ahead of Rodin Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne. However, the race changed after the final pit stops, when Câmara struggled to bring his supersoft tyres up to temperature.
Tsolov seized the opportunity. The Bulgarian attacked into Turn 1, forcing Câmara into a costly lock-up that ended the Invicta driver’s race and brought out the Virtual Safety Car. Tsolov then controlled the final laps of the 2026 F2 Feature Race in Monaco, to take victory ahead of Dunne, while Dino Beganovic completed the podium after a final-lap move on Kush Maini.
Speaking in the post-Feature Race press conference attended by Pit Debrief, Tsolov explained how quickly the race turned in his favour after a difficult stint on the soft tyres.
“Yeah, for sure, I mean, I felt the tyres dying on the soft, so I could barely get around the hairpin and I lost I think one second in sector one in that lap, suddenly out of nowhere, so then we wanted to stay out a little bit longer, but I let my engineer know that I’m going to lose a lot of time, so I boxed in that lap and yeah, the pit stop wasn’t necessarily fast, if I have to be honest, and then the outlap was just really difficult.”
“I’m glad I managed to bring the tyres in by the second push and then I caught the next cars that were coming out the pit on super soft. I think it was just really slippery, so I had the advantage in that lap and managed to get through Alex and then I arrived to Rafa and I knew he was on cold tyres, so I felt he was very vulnerable. I just kind of knew I was going to get through him at some point and then for me by the end, was just managing to cover the guys on the alternative strategy that might have been ahead with a pit stop but managed to do it in one lap and also get the fastest lap, so that’s good.”
Câmara’s lock-up opens the door
Câmara had controlled the early stages of the F2 Feature Race in Monaco from pole. He kept the lead at the start and responded when Tsolov closed to within half a second in the opening laps. By Lap 17, the Brazilian had stretched the gap to 1.5s, while the field began to spread out behind the leading pair.
But the timing of the pit stops transformed the fight. Tsolov pitted on Lap 32, while Câmara and Dunne responded one lap later. Câmara emerged ahead, but his tyres had not reached the same window as Tsolov’s.
Tsolov attacked immediately. He moved alongside Câmara on the run to Sainte Dévote, where the Invicta driver locked up and ran straight on. Tsolov admitted the move carried risk, especially as he attacked on the left-hand side of the main straight.
“Yeah, I knew coming on the left side on the main straight was a little bit risky, so I just kind of knew maybe he won’t be able to see me. He broke a bit early and I felt he broke even earlier, so then I released the brakes to brake later, but he released them even more, so then I thought, well, he’s on cold tyres, he must go off, so then it was just really tight on the entry of T1, so I just tried to survive. To be honest, it was really close. I thought I was going out as well, but I’m just glad I managed to get through and then we’re just managing. I think my life was a little bit easier after that and also in clean air, I think I had a lot more pace than when I was behind Rafa.”
Supersoft outlaps prove decisive
The closing stages underlined how difficult the supersoft tyre proved on its first lap around Monaco. Several drivers struggled for grip after stopping, and Tsolov said that challenge played a major role in the outcome.
His own outlap felt far from comfortable, but because he had already completed one lap on the compound when Câmara and Dunne returned to the track, he had a crucial advantage.
“Yeah, I think there’s a slight difference between the soft and super soft on the outlaps. They work in a different way. For some reason, the super soft is very difficult to bring in, and you just struggle a lot.”
“You’re just constantly slipping the front and rear. I was going really slow, just trying to survive my outlap, and I felt like I was almost spinning every corner. So it was just a little difficult for everyone.”
“And yeah, I thought I had a bad outlap, but it seems like other people were struggling a lot as well. So for me, that was the benefit of coming on the second lap already for me, while Rafa and Alex were in there first. Obviously, it’s a bit risky because it’s difficult to pass around here, but we managed to execute it well.”
“For me, that makes it difficult. Obviously, there’s no hard brakings, no high-speed corners in this track, so energy-wise, you cannot really put anything into them as well. So you just basically surface.”
Tsolov sees Monaco win as momentum shift
Tsolov’s victory marked his third win of the year and came after difficult weekends in Miami and Canada. Although he had shown pace, he had not converted that speed into the results he wanted.
That made the Monaco win even more important. Tsolov said he arrived in Monte Carlo aiming for consistency rather than victory, but the result gave him a needed reset.
“Yeah, it’s great. I felt like it was kind of a redemption for me just because I’ve had a few tough weekends in Miami. I felt like I was going to be strong in the wet on Sunday because it’s usually my strength, but unfortunately, I couldn’t even try it. Then in Canada, it was just a messy weekend. I think we had so much pace there and it was just a big missed opportunity, but I’m glad to see we’re fighting for the Feature Race wins in every weekend, so for me, that’s important and we can build on consistency from now on because, to be honest, that was my goal coming into this weekend. I wasn’t really necessarily aiming for the win.”
Monaco brings another special victory
Tsolov already knew how it felt to win in Monte Carlo. In Formula 3 last year, he dominated from pole and won by a large margin. This year’s Feature Race produced a very different type of victory, built on patience, pressure and decisive timing.
When asked to compare the two wins, Tsolov said both carried meaning for different reasons.
“They’re both very sweet in different ways. Last year, I think the pace was quite a few steps in front of everyone, which was quite satisfying also to drive in front and just do my own quali laps. And this year was a little different.”
“Obviously, I knew I was going to be fast, but we were just waiting for something to happen, to be honest. I thought I was going to finish second. And yeah, for me, this year, the good feeling is that I had a bad weekend in Canada.”
“So it’s kind of redemption, which that’s what makes it feel so good. Also, taking both races as fast as lap is a nice feeling, let’s say, confirmation of your pace.”
Campos leaves Monaco with another major result
Tsolov crossed the line ahead of Dunne, while Beganovic completed the podium after passing Maini on the final lap. Maini finished fourth, with Martinius Stenshorne close behind in fifth. Ritomo Miyata took sixth, ahead of Emerson Fittipaldi, Sebastián Montoya, Noel León and Roman Bilinski.
For Tsolov, the result confirmed that Campos had the pace to fight for Feature Race wins across different circuits. It also gave him a timely boost after two messy weekends had slowed his momentum.
He had not expected victory for much of the race, but when the decisive moment arrived, he reacted quickly. Around Monaco, that made all the difference.
