A brave alternative strategy for Nikola Tsolov earned the Bulgarian driver a P2 finish in the Feature Race at the 2026 F2 Barcelona-Catalunya round, before a post-race penalty demoted him to P4.
Starting P5 on hard tyres, Tsolov dropped down the grid in the opening stint before pitting late on Lap 23. With fresher tyres, he steadily made his way back up the grid, taking P3 away from Gabriele Minì at the exit of Turn 10 on Lap 34. On the hunt for a higher position, he closed in on Alex Dunne in the final laps, using his tyre grip advantage to claim P2.
However, a post-race five-second time penalty ultimately dropped him from P2 to P4 after the stewards deemed that he overtook Minì off track, gaining a lasting advantage.
Tsolov on his F3 Barcelona-Catalunya Feature Race result
Speaking during the pre-penalty F2 post-race press conference, attended by Pit Debrief, Tsolov reflected on his race, explaining why he opted for an alternative strategy: “Yeah for me it was the alternative strategy, obviously starting in P5 we were taking a little bit of risk to do that, but I just woke up with a feeling this morning that I have to do it and take it, because ultimately it should be the faster strategy.
“And then yeah, we had a good start, which was surprising considering the compound we were on and then just trying to stay clean and not get passed and not lose too much time with the other cars around,” he said.
“So to be honest, most of the race was just trying to manage the gap and the tyre and everything, so at the end of the race coming into the soft tyre I knew I had to push a little bit more than what I thought to get past these guys. And then as soon as I got Alex, to be honest I don’t think, I wasn’t thinking I was going to reach him, but as soon as I got him I just knew I had to just manage my tyres to finish the race, because there was no way we could catch Rafa, he was too fast for us today.”
Fighting for the 2026 F2 title
While his provisional P2 finish would have moved him into the championship lead, the post-race penalty leaves Tsolov second in the standings, six points behind leader Minì.
Before learning of the penalty, the Bulgarian discussed his provisional Drivers’ Standings lead, explaining that a strong weekend like this will ultimately prove key.
“Yeah it’s good, I’m mostly happy because I don’t think we particularly had the pace this weekend. We were really struggling on the hard compound particularly and then we just had to maximise our points, which we did better than ever.”
Notably, on Saturday, Tsolov managed to claim his fourth podium of the season with a P3 finish in the Sprint Race.
With that in mind, he continued: “Double podium for us, which is a good way and I think this weekend, like those, they make the championship in the end. So I’m looking forward to get our pace back and hopefully fight for a little more, but this is the best we could have done this weekend.”
Managing an alternative strategy
Further speaking about his different tyre strategy at the Barcelona-Catalunya Feature Race, Tsolov noted the significant grip advantage he had while making his way up the field after his pit stop.
“Yeah, my side was expected, obviously starting on the hard,” he began. “We wanted to extend as much as we can so that we can have maximum pace for the end of the race on the soft. And I think we managed it quite good. When we saw everyone boxing, we boxed as well just to avoid being in traffic and then just chopped everyone with the soft tyres. So quite happy with how we executed and yeah.”
When asked by Pit Debrief how difficult it was to commit to starting on hard tyres when so much depended on getting the timing right, the Campos Racing driver shared: “It was a difficult choice, which we weren’t really sure about.”
“But like I said earlier, I think I woke up this morning and I just had the feeling that I need to start on hard. So once you’re fully committed to something, it cannot go that wrong. You know, when you’re doubting yourself and your decision, it can go wrong.”
He added: “So then we managed to analyse this morning all the races from the past, from the people that started on the hard and there was no one that was affected in a bad way. If anything, it just ended in the same place. So we saw that the risk is very little to what it can seem like.”
“They trust me a lot”: Tsolov on his relationship with Campos Racing
Tsolov and Campos Racing have built a strong relationship over the last few years, as he drove for the Spanish team in the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship before being promoted to F2.
Therefore, when asked whether he had to convince his Campos Racing engineer to execute the alternative strategy, he said: “Not too much of convincing, to be honest. I think they trust me a lot with my choices, which I’m really happy about. This year, we’ve been going always in the direction I want. They follow it. And it’s never been wrong, let’s say. So I’m quite happy.
“They trust me a lot. We’re quite a family in the team. And like I said, we analysed it. And overall, we saw that it was like 50-50. It wasn’t too clear. So why not try in the position of the head and maybe get an advantage, which obviously we did.”
From F3 to F2 rivals
Beyond having a long relationship with Campos Racing, Tsolov is also familiar with Invicta Racing’s Rafael Câmara, as the two battled each other for the 2025 F3 title. Now fighting at the front of the grid in F2, Tsolov told Pit Debrief how their competitiveness has raised the level of his individual performance.
“Yeah, I think it’s quite cool that we were racing each other in F3 for the title. And now we’re doing the same in Formula 2. I think obviously shows that we’re both doing good level. And I think we’re pushing each other obviously to be better.”
“There’s always one doing something better in this weekend and something in the other one. So it’s quite like fulfilling each other, which I’m excited to see how it evolves. And it’s been good. Honestly, we’ve been respectful to each other as well in every weekend. So I think that’s very important as well,” he concluded.
