Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov continued his impressive form with another strong F2 result in Monaco. The Bulgarian has demonstrated both speed and consistency throughout the season, and this time it translated into his third career victory around the streets of the Principality.
Tsolov building on consistency at the F2 Monaco GP
The weekend began positively for Tsolov, who qualified P2 after a hectic Free Practice session in which he finished sixth. However, the Sprint Race proved more challenging, as he struggled for pace and crossed the line outside the points.
The Campos Racing driver bounced back in style on Sunday, delivering a composed drive to win the Feature Race around the narrow streets of Monte Carlo. It marked his second Feature Race victory of the season and his third overall victory of the season.
Speaking about his F2 Monaco GP weekend, Tsolov said: “I feel great. To win here a third time in a row. It’s just amazing around this track in Monaco, and to do it in F2 is even better.
“It feels good because I kind of had redemption after what happened in Canada, and it’s just great to be back on top. I knew we had the pace.
“I always feel confident around this track, and coming into the weekend, I was aiming for consistency, and we got even more than that, so I’m just happy to keep building on that.”
Tsolov satisfied with Monaco F2 performance despite missing out on pole
While many drivers would have been disappointed to miss out on pole position, Tsolov chose to focus on the positives from Qualifying.
The Bulgarian topped Group B during Qualifying, but a faster lap from Rafael Câmara in Group A ultimately secured pole position. Although Tsolov admitted he felt some frustration in the moment, he remained pleased with the overall outcome and quickly shifted his attention to the races.
“It was not frustrating at all to miss out on pole because in the end we want to do the best we can do in our group, and then we were P1 in the group and then P2 overall, because we missed out a little bit.
“Obviously, you always have a little bit more in the lap, so I did get slightly frustrated at some point, but I was really happy with the result.
“Also, in my opinion, the track wasn’t as good in group two because the track temp was 10 degrees hotter, so I think that made my life a little bit more difficult.
“For the Sprint, we just wanted to aim for the fastest lap, so I didn’t really learn a lot about the car, if I have to be honest, but we got that extra point, so it was clearly worth it.”
Tsolov ready to take on F2 Barcelona Round
With the Monte Carlo weekend wrapped up and concluded, Tsolov is ready for the next challenge. Up next in the F2 calendar is the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Last year in Formula 3, at this circuit, Tsolov finished in the top 3 in the Sprint and in the top five in the Feature Race.
This time around, he hopes to maintain his momentum and reach the top five once again. In a championship like F2, consistency is crucial, and if he keeps it up, momentum could be on his side.
“I’m feeling good. For me, it’s just to keep building on top five results, that will be the key from now onwards, keep the rhythm and that’s it. I’m happy to go to Barcelona.”
