Balgarianovinite.com Formula 2 driver Nikola Tsolov pointed to his strong starts as one of his main weapons this Formula 2 season after completing a British Grand Prix double at Silverstone on Sunday.
The Bulgarian Campos Racing driver gained three places at the start in both the sprint and the feature race.
On Sunday, Tsolov started fifth on the grid and quickly climbed to second, passing qualifying winner Rafael Camara.
Asked in an interview with Diema Sport whether he had practised these starts, Tsolov said: “Of course I practise them. My starts this year have been strong, but I did not expect it to be quite as good as it was on Sunday. That was where I managed to gain an advantage.”
After passing Camara, Tsolov tucked in behind Kush Maini and spent a long time behind the Indian driver, including after the tyre change on lap seven. The Bulgarian eliminated Maini’s advantage by lap 19 and passed him on the next lap, when the two were effectively fighting for eighth place.
After everyone had stopped in the pits, Tsolov emerged in first place and could only be threatened by Rafael Villagomez, who was running an alternative strategy. The Mexican Van Amersfoort Racing driver was clearly the faster of the two, but Tsolov already had a five-second lead and reached first place without difficulty.
“It was a very close overtake [against Maini]. Kush approached it with respect for me, as I did for him. It turned into a very nice battle. I almost lost the car at the first right-hander, but I managed to keep it and then my focus was to get out of the corner as quickly as possible so he would have no chance to overtake me. From then on, I knew I had good pace and had to manage the tyres to avoid the risk from the alternative strategy [by Villagomez],” Tsolov added.
Meanwhile, the race went badly for the Bulgarian’s main rival in the title fight, Gabriele Mini. The Italian began the day level on points with Tsolov but finished sixth, leaving the Campos Racing driver as the outright leader with a 17-point advantage.
Tsolov has built his rookie Formula 2 season around a string of major wins. He opened the year with victory in the feature race at Albert Park in Australia, then added the sprint race in Miami and the feature race in Monaco, where he secured his third podium in eight starts. A week before Silverstone, he also won the Formula 2 race in Austria after starting third and taking the lead early.
The Bulgarian moved up to Formula 2 after a strong 2025 Formula 3 campaign, when he was recruited by the Red Bull Junior Team and Campos Racing. In April, Tsolov said Formula 1 was within reach because it is just one step away from Formula 2, but added that his chances would depend on maintaining strong results throughout the season. Formula 2 Driver Tsolov Says Strong Starts Key to British Grand Prix Double 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-07-05 15:12:00 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law