“I just decide what to do in the moment” - Tsolov reflects on epic F2 overtakes in 2026
- Vyas Ponnuri
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
“I would put it among the top three weekends in my career,” replied Campos racer Nikola Tsolov.
Tsolov has taken three consecutive victories now, becoming the first Formula 2 driver to do so in the history of the championship. You don’t often see drivers sweeping a full race weekend, as the Bulgarian became the first driver to do so since Zane Maloney back in Bahrain in 2024. His success has come down to taking it step by step.
It’s a stellar showing that has now put Tsolov well ahead in the drivers’ championship, as he sits 17 points clear of his closest contender, MP Motorsport’s Gabriele Minì. Yet, the Campos man has regularly hinted at remaining grounded over the course of his season, not wanting to get into the thoughts of a championship fight just yet.
“Not necessarily, but obviously looking at it after the race,” Tsolov replied, on looking at the bigger picture. “We're more thinking round by round and what approach we need to take depending on the position we're in,” he continued.
Unlike in Austria, though, Tsolov would have it much harder in F2’s annual British weekend. Campos had been struggling through the 30-minute qualifying session, with teammate Noel León only managing a starting position of 16th in the race.
As such, qualifying well up the order in fifth was equal to a shock for Tsolov, who remarked that was all he could have done over a single lap.
It’s why he was even remarkably in surprise and awe after taking his third Feature Race win of the season, and second in a row. “I have no words to describe what I'm feeling right now. I am over the moon,” he would remark, delighted, and if anything, almost surprised at what he had achieved.
“It is quite the turnaround from what he expected,” he described.
Key to the race for both Campos and Tsolov has been the start in both the Feature and the Sprint Race this weekend. On both days, he gained three spots off the five red lights. On this day, though, taking a similar amount of risk paid off, as he sliced through the gap between a slow-starting Alex Dunne and Rafael Câmara to sit second.
Even though he would lose out on DRS to the ART of Kush Maini, who sped away into the distance early in the race, Tsolov played the patient game, waiting until the pit stops to close in on his rival.
Tsolov would eventually join Maini ahead by the same margin, but knew he could hunt down his rival for the lead. The Indian driver would start to struggle midway through the race, as the Campos man slowly closed in on the one-second mark. “I started to lose the rears,” Maini remarked, speaking on how his race had progressed.
The Campos man had been significantly stronger through all of Silverstone’s high-speed corners, closing down his rival all through this section.
Much like he had done the previous day, Tsolov would make his first moves to secure the position from another Alpine junior. The key moments came into Stowe and the Vale chicane on Lap 19, with Tsolov unsuccessfully attempting his special round-the-outside overtake.
He would also hound Maini into the Vale chicane, forcing the ART man to take a more defensive line into the chicane and lose ground. This set up the perfect opportunity for Tsolov to pull off the overtake the following lap.
Once again, Tsolov would attempt a move around the outside, this time at Brooklands corner. Yet again, for the third time, he was met by the stern defence of Maini’s ART.
However, rounding the Luffield hairpin on Lap 20, Tsolov knew this would be his shot at taking the net race lead. Up ahead, VAR’s Rafael Villagómez had been setting up a bid for victory on the alternate strategy, nailing several fast laps on his hard tyres.
If Tsolov were to stay in front once it all evened out, he would have to build a margin to the chasing pack to stay safe from his rival. And thereby came the move into Copse, when Tsolov showcased his sheer strength in the high-speed corners to full effect.
With Maini defending heavily on the inside, the Campos man carried plenty more speed and momentum into the fast right-hander, getting alongside his rival as they rounded the corner. Despite suffering a bit of oversteer on the exit, Tsolov carried enough speed to stay alongside, pulling off the move into the Maggots and Becketts corner complex.
It was a move of supreme confidence, one that signified the sheer level of skill Tsolov possessed in his arsenal. The move around the outside has become a trademark of the Campos man’s racing, as he has showcased over the course of the season.
Be it on Laurens van Hoepen in Miami, or a series of moves on the likes of Alex Dunne and Gabriele Minì in Spain, or his race-winning moves on Minì and Maini in Silverstone, it only showcased how Tsolov had won out by differing from his rivals, and pulling off audacious, eye-catching overtakes.
“Everything is very spontaneous,” Tsolov replied when asked by DIVEBOMB about his overtakes in the season. “I just decide what to do in the moment.”
“My idea is just to fill the missing gap, and whether it's on the inside or outside, I always fill it,” he would continue, referencing Ayrton Senna’s racing philosophy.
It’s rare to see an F2 driver pull off such a move for the lead, even more so when there is plenty on the line. Any move around the outside requires a driver to put more trust in their rival not to have a moment of oversteer and spin them around.
It has been a risky move to pull off, sometimes, as Tsolov has experienced in the past, in Monaco, when Rafa Câmara’s lock-up nearly caught him out. But as the Bulgarian puts it, “If an opportunity opens because of doing that, then I obviously take it.
While Tsolov puts his strengths in the high speed to great effect, it is more often the confidence to do it in the high-pressure moments. The last lap passes, when the opportunity presents itself to score two more points. Or just looking to get a move on to solidify his race-winning ambitions. It’s these moments of confidence and execution that make or break F2 seasons.
For Tsolov and Campos, it’s these moments in the races that have helped them continually make the most of the opportunities, and as of now, earn a valuable 17-point lead at the halfway point of the season.
It also showcased the team’s abilities to make a comeback in between sessions, as they overturned what had been a difficult qualifying into a resounding success, setting them up in a prime position for a pivotal second half of the season, and a potential shot at a constructors’ title too.
There also remains the record of seven victories in an F2 season, held by 2017 and 2018 F2 champions Charles Leclerc and George Russell, which Tsolov is homing in on. The Bulgarian currently sits on six wins.
Alongside, there also remain the constant rumours flying around the paddock, of a potential promotion to Racing Bulls in Formula One, something Tsolov has denied over the course of the year.
There can be plenty to talk about, but Tsolov’s focus is on what comes next for him. The next race, or the next weekend. “It's definitely not on my mind,” he remarked, on the win record.
“We're not necessarily going, ‘okay, we have to do this because we're in this in the championship’,” he remarked.
While Tsolov has become a major talking point in recent times, there is no doubt he will be looking to continue his juggernaut and continue what has been a stellar F2 campaign so far.
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