F2 Championship leader Nikola Tsolov said he and his Campos team “tried something different which didn’t quite work”, after finishing third in the Spa-Francorchamps Feature Race.
The Bulgarian said he and the team made a “small step back” when they normally make progress, which he said left him with “mixed feelings”.
“I‘m still happy to come away with third,” he said. I think we managed to execute a clean race, more or less, let’s say, because a lot of people crashed, or were on the wrong strategy, etc. So I have to say that today, probably we were on the lucky side. But we take days like this, and hopefully we come back stronger for next week in Budapest.”
"We keep chopping points" ??
Nikola Tsolov strengthens his Championship charge with a solid drive to take P3 in the Spa Feature Race ?#F2 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/py3d0ZukV9
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 19, 2026
The Red Bull Junior appeared to have strong early pace and banged wheels with eventual race winner, Rafael Câmara, when attempting to take second place after another lightning start.
But the subsequent damage, part of which was repaired during the red flag stoppage mid-race, saw him lose ground and finish fifth on the road, but promoted to the podium thanks to a five-second time penalty for Alex Dunne of Rodin, who was penalised for track limits offences.
Tsolov explained that the damage cost him a lot of time on the super-soft tyre, which he’d started on, which was also struggling to make the end of Lap 6 in a competitive state. But he said the setup choice made things worse.
“They really dropped off, especially with the setup we had today. It was not the right choice, I think.”
While points were lost to Câmara, Tsolov managed to finish ahead of closest rival Gabriele Mini, who was fifth, and he holds a 27-point advantage over the Italian heading to Round 9 in Hungary.
Léon disqualified and Campos penalised post-race
Campos had finished the race with both cars in the points, after a creative strategy saw Noel Léon leap from last on the grid to the net lead of the race.
Léon started on the super-soft tyres but made a pit stop before the end of Lap 6, which is when mandatory pit stops can be counted. He then stopped again on Lap 9 when the Safety Car was out, to be ahead of Câmara for the restart.
He failed to hang on to that position though, crossing the line fourth, but with a five-second track limits penalty.
This dropped him to seventh before the stewards investigated an offence post race.
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak moves past Leon on-track into the podium positions ??
It'll be the first podium for a Thai driver since 2018 ??#F2 #BelgianGP | 2 minutes remaining pic.twitter.com/znIQvL8v0L
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 19, 2026
It was alleged during the race that a non-operational person was using a headset with a microphone attached in the pit lane, a breach of Article 21.5 and Appendix 5 of the FIA F2 Sporting Regulations.
The stewards spoke to Tsolov and Team Representatives about the issue, as Léon had already left the track, which revealed the person in-question was a team guest with Léon, who’d picked up the wrong type of headset.
The Stewards ruled the team is responsible for ensuring the radio equipment provided to Non-Operational Personnel and team guests complies with the applicable requirements.
They disqualified Léon only as the guest was associated with him, while the team has been given a suspended 25-point deduction in the Teams Championship.
It will be triggered if the same offence is repeated during the rest of this season.
Campos remain top of the F2 teams standings, with 230 points, 64 clear of Rodin.
Relive the action-packed start to the Spa-Francorchamps Feature Race ??#F2 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/EizRrBaPTq
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 19, 2026
Image Credit – Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty
