After a weekend in which little went his way, Nikola Tsolov found the perfect response. The Campos Racing driver started Baku’s Feature Race 2 from 11th and finished second, gaining nine places and keeping himself firmly in the title fight.

From struggle to podium

Campos had found the going tough for much of Round 12. Tsolov finished fifth in the Sprint Race, then retired from Feature Race 1 after the Turn 3 incident. That zero cost him the championship lead for the first time since Silverstone, and a pit entry infringement in the same race brought a three-place grid drop.

How he did it

Strategy made the difference. Through both Virtual Safety Car periods, Tsolov stayed out longer than his rivals in the first stint. He explained that this let his tyres cool and stay in the right window, and that the Supersoft tyres held up well to the finish.

On fresher rubber he passed Laurens van Hoepen and Martinius Stenshorne to move into third, then reeled in Rafael Câmara and Alexander Dunne, finishing within DRS range of Câmara. Dunne’s post-race five-second penalty lifted Tsolov to second.

Tsolov called it a really positive day, given how the team bounced back. “It was much more than a win,” he told the official F2 website, adding it was something he and the whole team could carry with them.