Maiden F2 podium for Tsolov "really positive start" for next year's campaign
- Morgan Holiday
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
Written by Morgan Holiday
Three races into his FIA Formula 2 career, Nikola Tsolov stood on the podium for the first time.
Fresh off the back of his third FIA Formula 3 season (where he finished second in the standings to title-winner Rafael Câmara), Tsolov stepped up for the two final rounds of the 2025 F2 season. He was already set to join Campos Racing for 2026, but jumped in to replace Pepe Martí, who bowed out of his second year in the category after signing a contract to race in Formula E.
The Bulgarian driver qualified seventh on his debut in Qatar, and started fourth in the reverse-grid Sprint Race. He overtook Rafael Villagomez at the start of the race and ran in third before trouble on a Safety Car restart on the final lap of the race knocked him down to 10th.
Hungry for a podium after narrowly missing out, Tsolov came back in Abu Dhabi and qualified ninth, putting him in second to start the Sprint Race. And this time, while he couldn’t hold off Joshua Dürksen, he secured third place and celebrated his first F2 podium before even competing in his first official season in the category.
F2 debut so far
After coming back from losing a chance at a Sprint Race podium in Qatar to getting his maiden Sprint Race podium in Abu Dhabi, Tsolov spoke to the media about his campaign so far.
“Yeah, it feels good,” he commented. “I was expecting to be on the podium in Qatar as well in the Sprint but it's finally good to have it here. The race was definitely tough, I dropped a little bit from these two, but I managed to keep a good enough pace to stay in third. I am happy to just get over the podium goal and focus on the rest.”
Making the step from F3 to F2 can be a tough one, even when you’re doing it at the start of the season with everyone else. Jumping in at the end of the year can be a baptism of fire more often that not, and it’s not unusual to see drivers struggle to get up to speed when they step in towards the end of the season.
When asked if he was expecting to be up to speed right away, Tsolov answered: “Yes and no, because I thought I was well prepared and I had a lot of confidence in myself. Obviously, my expectations were high, so I wasn’t fully satisfied even with seventh in Qatar.
“But then looking back after the weekend I thought, well these guys have done 12 rounds and they know the car very well, and I just stepped in for the first time, on soft tyres as well, and did seventh. I don’t think overall I have the pace as much as they do so far, but I think it has been a really positive start.
“Also looking at past results from other people who have done the past two rounds jumping in straight away. I am happy with that. In the end, my goal is next year.”
Tsolov’s podium, on top of his seventh place finish in the Qatar Feature Race, propelled him to 18th in the standings and put him ahead of several full-time drivers after just two rounds in the car.
Looking ahead to next season
Tsolov has already achieved a podium in the category, but will still head into next season as a rookie. This experience will give him an advantage over his fellow rookies who have not yet had a chance to race in an F2 car against the rest of the field.
Looking ahead to next year, Tsolov is excited for 2026 but knows he still has a lot of work to do to get up to speed.
“Yeah, it’s making me excited,” he said. “I think there is definitely stuff to work on in both departments, me and the car to be able to fight constantly in the top three for every quali like Fornaroli did this year. That’s going to be our goal.
“There is still a bit of stuff to improve. In the beginning of the race, I thought I was going to push but I still got dropped so yeah, there is something to find.”
When asked by DIVEBOMB how seriously he’s treating these “bonus” time in F2, Tsolov joked: “It’s just a holiday and a hobby for me. No, I’m just joking.”
He added: “It was a learning process and still is. My goal was just to finish every lap in every session, which I’ve been doing so far, and that was pretty much it. I didn’t have any top 10 or something like that, result-wise.
“I’m happy, I’ve done everything so far. There’s a Feature Race to learn more from tomorrow, I think today definitely helped me understand the tyre better, it’s a heavy car around this track. I don’t really know the track so that was my goal, and it helps a lot for next year I believe.”
While other drivers were racing in the final round of the year hoping for a final chance to impress and secure a seat for 2026, Tsolov was among several drivers whose seat for next year has already been set.
“For me, it was confirmed mid-season in F3 and that more so took off stress already during my F3 season,” he told DIVEBOMB. “It obviously took a while to sign and get it confirmed, but definitely.
“I feel good knowing what I’ll do next year because usually I don’t have it announced early and it’s been making an impact on my mental state for sure.”
With a head start and an impressive debut in F2, Tsolov can head into the off-season confident that he’s done everything he can to prepare for next year.
