Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov extended his championship lead with a hard-fought victory in the Sprint Race at the 2026 F2 Miami GP. The Bulgarian crossed the line just ahead of Trident’s Laurens van Hoepen after a thrilling, nail-biting battle that lasted from lights to flag, marking back-to-back wins for the 19 year-old.
Sitting at the top of the Drivers’ Standings with 35 points, Tsolov built on his strong momentum despite a difficult start to the weekend, where he completed very few laps during Free Practice. After qualifying P10, he was able to capitalise on the reverse-grid format, starting from pole and maximising his points haul on Saturday.
Reflecting on his race during the post-Sprint press conference, attended by Pit Debrief, Tsolov said: “Yeah, it was obviously quite intense, the whole race. I was trying to create a gap and maybe take him out of my DRS, but it was just really difficult. I think DRS was really powerful today.”
“As soon as I got overtaken on the last lap, I almost believed it was impossible to take him back. But then obviously I stayed close to the tight section, and then coming into the last corner, the last braking, and it was all to play for. Broke late on my line.”
“I think I stayed patient, and both of us were quite respectful, never really took way too big of risks and stayed on line. It was really exciting, intense, probably the funniest race I’ve ever done. I’m looking forward to another good battle tomorrow, starting from a little further back.”
Staying calm under pressure to secure back-to-back wins
The battle between Tsolov and van Hoepen never let up throughout the race. Both drivers raced hard, showed no hesitation and demonstrated clean, respectful racecraft. Having stayed calm under pressure to secure the win at the penultimate corner, Tsolov described the race as one that he thoroughly enjoyed, though he admitted the heat added another layer of difficulty.
“No, because I believe there are races that you need to win 100%. Today, I think it was just about collecting points. Obviously, it was just a sprint race, but I would say it was really fun and I enjoyed it.”
“Probably one of the most enjoyable feelings, especially after the race when it’s all done. But yeah, it was really difficult in terms of heat, for sure.”
With focus now shifting to tomorrow’s Feature Race, Campos Racing and Tsolov aim to refine a well-balanced car setup after today’s success, having taken a completely different direction from Friday.
He said: “Obviously, it could always be better. We did big changes from yesterday to today, just because the only running we did was qualifying and we weren’t really happy with the car. We went in completely the opposite direction, I would say, today. I hope tomorrow we can find a balance between the two setups and find even more pace going into tomorrow.”
“We want to race in whatever conditions” — Tsolov on the possibility of wet weather
With the likelihood of wet weather hitting the Miami International Autodrome on Sunday, the weekend schedule has been revised, with the Feature Race now set to start at 09:25 local time.
When asked whether the rain could present as an opportunity or limit their strategic options, Tsolov explained that, with his limited experience in the F2 car in wet conditions, he and the team will simply take it as it comes tomorrow.
“I’ve never driven the F2 car in rain, so it will be a little bit of a challenge, especially on a track like this, I think. It’s already rubbered in today, so it will be quite tricky in case it’s wet tomorrow. But, I mean, we’re drivers, we want to race in whatever conditions, so we’re ready for anything.”
“But, yeah, let’s see what happens, because it says it might even be a thunderstorm, or we’ll just miss it maybe for our race.”
Balancing risk versus reward in a tight battle
Having started on pole and led for most of the race, the win was ultimately the 19 year-old’s to lose. When reflecting on his battle with van Hoepen, he described it as a careful balance between risk and reward, although at one stage he briefly thought he would not be able to retake the lead from the Trident driver.
“It was about finding the right balance, like you said. At some point, I was enjoying the race so much, I wasn’t really thinking about first or second place as the situation was going. And to be fair, the moment he [van Hoepen] quite passed me into T11, I thought it wouldn’t be possible to get him back.”
However, with the help of DRS, the Bulgarian detailed the approach that allowed him to snatch victory from van Hoepen on the final lap, while crediting their mutual respect throughout their hard-fought battle.
He added: “But as I said, I managed to stay close in the low-speed section, and then the DRS was powerful, maybe just not enough to get through on the inside into the last braking. But I just tried to brake late on the outside and see where I end up. I think there was not much risk for me going into that corner.”
“And I saw I was a little bit ahead in the braking, which made me get him around the outside and then obviously finish off the race where I am. But I don’t think we were both taking huge risks. I would say we were respectful.”
Tsolov on “really valuable” lessons from the F2 Miami Sprint Race
A premature end to his Free Practice session on Friday left the Bulgarian heading into Qualifying relatively blind. With limited mileage around the circuit, the best he could achieve was a P10 finish. This sets him up for a fifth-row start for tomorrow’s Feature Race.
Having made up for the missed experience during today’s Sprint Race, Tsolov admitted it was extremely important and valuable for him. With that experience now under his belt, he heads into the Feature Race fuelled with confidence.
“I think it was really important, obviously, because I didn’t do any running on the medium tyre before this race. And obviously, with the setup, it was going to be quite a good guess if we didn’t do the race today. But yeah, it was really valuable.”
“I think now having more laps on the track, I feel more confident for tomorrow. Because today, again, on my side, was a guess with the braking points, lines, etc., how the car is going to behave, also the big changes we did in the setup. So I’m looking forward to tomorrow if it’s dry.”
Aims for “a calm race” from P10 to maximise opportunities tomorrow
While starting from P10 tomorrow could present its own challenges, Tsolov’s approach to the race remains clear: to collect more points in a safe and opportunistic way.
The Bulgarian said: “Yeah, for me, it’s good that I scored the most points I could today in terms of positions. So tomorrow we can, you know, just do a calm race, collect points, I would say, rather that approach, than risk too much. We’ve seen in the past that it’s the most important thing.”
“Obviously, I will try to go for every position I can, but it will probably not be the end of the world as we have already taken some points, and we just want to take a few more.”
First impressions of Miami and its circuit
The addition of Miami and Montreal marks the first two new venues on the F2 calendar since Lusail was introduced back in 2024. Having enjoyed the Miami environment ahead of the weekend, Tsolov and his fellow top-three finishers shared similar sentiments about racing in Miami—and soon Montreal—for the first time.
“Yeah, it feels great.”, he said. “I mean, I experienced a little bit of Miami just before the weekend started, which was quite cool. Done a bit of jet ski, you know, visited Miami Beach. So, I’m looking forward to going to new locations more and more.”
“Obviously, going into Canada the next racing weekend will be also fun. Like Alex [Dunne] said, the weather is great. Obviously, it makes it a little bit difficult for us. We had to adapt coming from a little bit colder Australia earlier in the year.”
Tsolov: Battle with van Hoepen is “what pure racing is”
When asked about his battle with van Hoepen, he echoed similar sentiments to the Trident driver, explaning the thrill and enjoyment drivers take from racing in scenarios like this.
He said: “Same in mind, I think that’s what pure racing is and that’s what makes the sport so great after all. I almost felt like I was in an iRacing race at some point. That was really fun. I didn’t have that fear of crashing because I knew we were both in the same mindset. We want to win, but we also want to move forward for tomorrow.”
While DRS proved essential in today’s race, Pit Debrief asked the top three how they manage their approach when using it, to which he explained: “I mean, today we experienced a little bit of the DRS and the overspeed, so I kind of have an idea for tomorrow.”
“But I think if it’s a DRS train, it’ll be tough to pass. But yeah, I think that’s what makes it fun.The track obviously provides great racing, and I’m not sure if there was any wind, but the DRS was really, really strong, more than usual, I’d say.”
Battling the Miami heat
Although conditions are expected to differ tomorrow, Tsolov admitted that the Miami heat caught him off guard during the race today.
“Yeah, I think it was very difficult, I think, with the heat and to try and stay focused, obviously, leading the race and trying to pull a gap in the whole. Every single lap, I was trying to do something different to maybe gain a bit of pace, but it wasn’t working very well.”
“But in the end, I think, yeah, the in-lap for me was the most difficult physically because I couldn’t breathe. There was no air coming into my helmet, so it was pretty exhausting. But tomorrow seems to be a little bit fresher weather.”, said Tsolov.
