Nikola Tsolov won the FIA Formula 2 Feature Race in Monaco after a string of unfortunate results in the North America rounds.
The Bulgarian rookie stood on the top step of the iconic podium in Monte Carlo after starting the race second on the grid behind Invicta’s Rafael Câmara. He set the fastest time in Group B’s Qualifying session on Friday, but a faster time for Câmara in Group A earned him pole.
Tsolov kept the pressure applied to the pole-sitter for the majority of their opening stint, until a mistake from Câmara opened the door for Tsolov to dominate the closing stages.
He almost managed to undercut his rival following a crucial pit stop call to his Campos Racing engineers, he explained the decision in today’s press conference:
“I felt the tyres dying on the softs so I could barely get around the hairpin and I lost, I think 1 second in Sector 1 in the lap, certainly out of nowhere. We wanted to stay out a little longer so I let my engineer know that I am going to lose a lot of time.
“I boxed that lap and the pit stop wasn’t necessarily fast to be honest then the out lap was really difficult. I’m glad I managed to bring the tyres in by the second push.
“I caught the next cars that were coming out of the pits on supersofts. I think it was just really slippery so I had the advantage on that lap and managed to get through Alex [Dunne] and then I arrived to Rafa and I knew he was on cold tyres so I noticed he was very vulnerable.
“I just kind of knew I was going to get through him at some point. Then for me, by the end it was just managing to cover the guys on the alternative strategy.”
Speaking on the incident with Câmara, Tsolov explained his thought process on where to position his car to apply pressure on his competitor:
“I knew coming on the left side of the main straight was a little risky. I just kind of knew, maybe he won’t be able to see me.
“I broke a bit early, but I felt he broke even earlier. I released the brakes to brake later but he released them even more. So then I thought, well, he’s on cold tyres, he must go off so it was just really tight on the entry of Turn 1- I just tried to survive.
“To be honest, it was really close, I thought I was going out as well. I’m just glad I managed to get through and then we were just managing. My life was a little bit easier in clean air, I had a little bit more pace than when I was behind Rafa.”
An incident filled Canada weekend where he made contact with Martinius Stenshorne in the Sprint Race and then was bumped into a spin by Kush Maini in the Feature left him leaving the round with no points.
Following in the footsteps of former Red Bull driver, Daniel Ricciardo, Tsolov found redemption in Monaco, boosting him back up to second in the drivers’ standings:
“I felt like it was a kind of redemption for me because I’ve had a few rough weekends. In Miami, I felt like I was going to be strong in the wet on Sunday because it’s usually my strength. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even try it.
“Then in Canada, just a messy weekend. We had so much pace there, it was just a big missed opportunity.
“I’m glad to see we’re finally fighting for the Feature Race wins every weekend so for me, that important and to build on consistency from now because that was my goal coming into this weekend. I wasn’t just necessarily aiming for the win.”
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