F2 Miami Sprint: Tsolov takes second win in a row

It was Bulgaria’s Nikola Tsolov from Campos Racing who took victory in F2’s first race in the Americas.

Feature Image Credit: Formula 2

Starting on pole for the 23-lap sprint was championship leader Nikola Tsolov for Campos, with fellow rookie Laurens van Hoepen second for Trident. Rounding out the top 10 was MP’s Oliver Goethe, Invicta’s Joshua Dürksen, Van Amersfoort Racing (VAR)’s Nico Varrone, MP’s Gabriele Minì, Rodin duo Alex Dunne and Martinius Stenshorne, Invicta’s Rafael Câmara and ART’s Kush Maini.

Before the race even started, Maini stalled on the formation lap, condemning him to a pitlane start and promoting Hitech’s Dino Beganovic into 10th.

Tsolov remained ahead at the start, while van Hoepen remained second and Dürksen moved up to third. 

Home hero Colton Herta made a bold move on John Bennett into 13th at turn 16, while Noel León passed Goethe, who had a poor start from third. Sebastián Montoya had contact, which gave him minor front wing damage.

At the end of lap one, the top eight was Tsolov, van Hoepen, Dürksen, Varrone, Dunne, Minì, Stenshorne and León.

A battle at the front formed between the top five, with Minì and Stenshorne slightly over a second behind Dunne in fifth. Turn 17 would be the main overtaking zone, alongside turn one, and this was where the fight at the front emerged. It was here that Stenshorne and Minì battled. Stenshorne initially got ahead at turn 17, but Minì got back ahead on the front straight. 

On lap five, Dürksen divebombed van Hoepen at turn 17, keeping ahead with a solid move. However, his work was undone the following lap, going in deep at turn 15 while attempting to close on Tsolov. Van Hoepen was back in second for Trident.

Dunne’s pace lowered slightly, which dropped the quintet into a quartet. 

A bad race for Goethe was getting worse, as he went from starting at the front to fighting with Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, Roman Bilinski, Herta and Bennett for 11th.

By lap eight, Stenshorne finally cleared Minì for sixth, making it five teams in the top six places. ART’s bad race became even worse that lap, as Inthraphuvasak suffered a mechanical issue which dropped him out of the race, ending a two-race streak of points for him.

Beganovic moved into the final points finish, clearing León for eighth on lap nine.

Tsolov’s early race pace was beginning to cost him, as his car became increasingly more loose as the sprint went on. Van Hoepen and Dürksen now were right on the tail of the Bulgarian, and the quartet briefly went back to a quintet, as Dunne closed back on the four ahead before dropping back again.

Goethe managed to pull away from Bilinski, and a DRS train emerged behind the DAMS driver which included Herta, Bennett, Ritomo Miyata and Emerson Fittipaldi Jr.

While his teammate was running in fourth, VAR’s Rafael Villagómez retired in what is the closest to a home race for the Mexican.

At halfway, Tsolov led from van Hoepen, Dürksen, Varrone, Dunne, Stenshorne, Minì and Beganovic.

Bilinski’s aggressive defending didn’t pay off for him, dropping behind both Herta and Bennett.

Tsolov, who had led every lap, was now behind van Hoepen, while Dürksen and Varrone remained third and fourth. Dürksen made an error, which moved him outside of a second of Tsolov. Now, Varrone and Dunne were hounding the Paraguayan for the final podium place. Minì and Stenshorne continued their battle, and Minì moved back ahead.

A big mistake from Herta ruined his tyres, dropping him down to 15th, while Dunne moved ahead of Varrone, and crucially, Tsolov went back ahead of van Hoepen for the lead briefly, before the Trident driver took back the lead.

With eight laps to go, Tsolov and van Hoepen were in a battle at the front, with Dürksen and Dunne slightly back, Varrone in no man’s land and Stenshorne, Minì and Beganovic in a battle for the final three points-paying positions.

Fittipaldi Jr became the fourth driver to retire with a broken suspension. The AIX driver was later given a ten-second time penalty.

Dunne tried an audacious move into turn one, but cost himself and Dürksen over a second to the front two and to Varrone.

Now Stenshorne, Minì, Beganovic and León closed right up on the three ahead.

With five laps to go, the battle for the lead remained, as did the battle for the final step on the podium. Dunne had been under pressure from Varrone, but a lap later, passed Dürksen for the final podium place. Dunne’s chances of any more than that were low, as by now he was over three seconds behind van Hoepen in second. Stenshorne was now attempting to catch and pass Varrone for fifth.

Dunne wasn’t giving up a chance to win, closing around a second a lap on Tsolov and van Hoepen to give himself outside odds of a victory from seventh on the grid. Van Hoepen was getting told to make his move on Tsolov, and he did at turn 17. The duo's battle continued into turn one, but Tsolov stayed in front.

On the last lap, Dunne now had DRS on the duo ahead. Tsolov brilliantly fought van Hoepen, and moved back ahead of him at turn 17 after the Dutch driver overtook him earlier in the lap.

While focus came to the front three, Varrone and Dürksen battled brilliantly behind, with the former coming out on top.

In the end, Tsolov won from van Hoepen, Dunne, Varrone, Dürksen, Stenshorne, Minì and Beganovic, with León and Câmara in ninth and 10th just outside the points.