Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov started the 2025 Barcelona F3 Sprint Race from P11. After several laps of chaos, the road ahead cleared—and the Bulgarian capitalised, climbing to claim the final step on the podium.
A chaotic start to the F3 Sprint Race
The Sprint Race typically proves a dress rehearsal for Sunday’s Feature Race, offering valuable insights. Chaos typically erupts in the midfield or rear of the grid, but that was not the case on Sunday. The Spanish Sprint saw the leading three taken out by Turn 2, giving the midfield a real chance to fight forward.
While the front unravelled, the midfield and back-end runners enjoyed relatively clean starts. Tsolov made the most of the opportunity—and with a front-row start tomorrow, he knows a clean getaway will be critical once again..
“Yeah, I would normally say the starts are cleaner at the front but definitely not today. So I mean for me it was clean all in all so I’m not really stressed about tomorrow. I just need to do the same start like today as it seemed quite good on my side and see what we can pick up here and there.”
“Then see what Rafa does, see what Laurens does. Maybe they do a better or worse start and it’s all about waiting though.”
Tsolov thrilled with strong start to the season
Spain marks the fifth round of the 2025 FIA F3 season. Following today’s result, Tsolov sits second in the standings. It is a position the Bulgarian never expected to hold so early in the year. Though contention was always the target, he’s already surpassing expectations.
Reflecting on the first half of the season, the only round that left a sour taste for Tsolov was Imola. Despite consistent performance from both himself and the team, he concedes overtaking has often been difficult—something he’s keenly aware of ahead of Sunday’s race.
“I’m really happy. I never thought I would be this close to the championship fleet after the three rounds. The goal was definitely to get a bit closer but so far we’ve been doing much more than what we set as targets and goals.
“Apart from Imola, I think we’ve been doing really well and hopefully tomorrow we can close the gap even more, but as I said, overtaking seemed really difficult unless someone’s much slower than you so let’s see what’s for the table tomorrow, you know, anything can happen in F3 as we saw today so it’s going to be another fun race to watch.”
A podium within reach
From early in the Sprint Race, Tsolov sensed a podium was within reach. Still, he would have been content with a top-five finish, especially as overtaking became a far tougher task than anticipated. Unless a rival car was considerably slower, making a pass was a hard-earned battle.
“I think right after first lap. I thought that was what we were fighting for but again, I just wanted to finish in the top five in general.”
He continued, “I think I expected it to be a bit easier with following and overtaking but to be honest, I struggled quite a bit.”
Lessons learnt for the Feature Race
Tsolov revealed that today’s race was made even more difficult due to his tyre selection—the worst of the sets available to him this weekend. He hopes the better grip on offer tomorrow will allow him to attack from the front row.
“Obviously, I had the bad set of tyres for today that we picked. Hopefully, tomorrow I’m going to have a better grip and try and move on forward and attack in T1.”
Oversteer plagued much of his Sprint Race. At several corners, the 18-year-old came close to spinning out. His priority quickly shifted from attacking to simply keeping the car clean and holding onto P3.
“I have to say it was quite difficult. We had a lot of oversteer even following and it was just a bit about surviving at some point in the end.
“I was quite close to spinning off in a few corners which is not usual but I just tried to keep it clean and staying in P3 I knew was pretty much enough because just getting one more point for one more place, risking a lot wasn’t worth it.
“Unfortunately, I got told what the fastest lap was a bit too late so I think I couldn’t go for that but I’m still happy with it.”
Red Bull Academy a vital asset
Tsolov joined the Red Bull family for 2025, having previously been part of the Alpine Academy. Red Bull’s reputation for fast promotions is matched by the high expectations placed on its young drivers. While this pressure overwhelms some, Tsolov embraces it.
He credits Red Bull with helping him improve rapidly this season, teaching him key fundamentals he believes he should have known when entering F3.
“Yeah, I think the Academy’s been helping me so much, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve been improving a lot this year.”
“I think they’ve got a good team and base behind them that has helped me understand a lot of things about racing and details that I should have known when I came into F3 at first.”
Tsolov welcomes the demands that come with being part of such a high-pressure environment. For him, the challenge is motivating, not intimidating.
“So I’m really happy to be part of the family. Obviously, there is a lot of pressure, but I kind of like it, and I like dealing with it. It just gets me excited, so I’m really happy to be part of it.”
As the season progresses, Tsolov looks more and more like a genuine title contender. But the championship is not the only thing he’s chasing. This season is pivotal—for both silverware and securing his next step on the ladder.
“And of course, I’m fighting for more than the championship, I’m fighting for my career, and definitely I would love to move up to F2 next year.”
