Campos Racing have announced their first driver signing for the 2026 Formula 2 season, with Nikola Tsolov set to race for the Spanish team next year.
The 18 year old makes the step up to F2 after a stellar Formula 3 career, during which he secured five wins, the most by any driver in the Championship’s history.
Two of those victories came with Campos this season and with another four podiums, he went on to finish second in the Drivers’ Championship.
Prior to this year though, the Tsolov and Campos partnership proved to be a title-winning one when in 2022, the Bulgarian won the Spanish F4 Championship thanks to his 13 wins in 21 races.
The Red Bull junior is now set to step up to F2 next season and he is delighted to be doing so with Campos.
I am extremely happy to take the next step in my career and move up to FIA Formula 2 with Campos Racing once again. Together we have worked very hard and achieved success in both F4 Spain and FIA Formula 3, which gives me great confidence heading into next season. This is another step closer to my dream, and I will be pushing harder than ever to deliver strong results. Tsolov on the news.
We are extremely proud to continue working with Nikola for another year. He is very much one of our own, having taken his very first steps in single-seaters with Campos Racing. In the two seasons he has raced with us, he has been a champion and a runner-up, which are clear credentials of his outstanding talent. A Formula 2 car is, of course, another level, but despite his youth he already has a wealth of single-seater experience, displays great maturity, and we are confident he will also make his mark in FIA Formula 2. Adrian Campos Jr, Campos Racing Team Principal.
Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov topped Free Practice at Silverstone on a 1:45.847 to start his weekend on the front foot.
The Bulgarian was the only driver into the 1:45s, as Charlie Wurz followed in second for Trident ahead of Tim Tramnitz of MP Motorsport in third.
Nicola Lacorte led the way in the very early stages on a 1:49.859, while tyre preparation laps got underway for the rest of the field.
Campos went 1-2 with under half an hour to go, as Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak led teammate Mari Boya on a 1:46.379, 0.3s quicker than the Spaniard in P2.
Tramnitz moved MP up to P2, 0.037s down on the best effort until Ugo Ugochukwu put PREMA Racing top of the pile on a 1:46.277.
Martinius Stenshorne and Wurz set personal bests to go second and third respectively, and within a tenth of the McLaren Development Driver in P1.
After drivers returned to the circuit for a second run in the final 10 minutes, further improvements began to flow in.
Rafael Camara set a time to go quickest but lost it to exceeding track limits. Moments later, title rival Nikola Tsolov broke into the 1:45s to take the top spot, while Stenshorne and Ugochukwu posted improvements of their own that put them second and third.
Tramnitz closed the gap down to 0.291s as he went to P2 in the final five minutes. Camara posted a time good enough for P4 as the chequered flag waved to bring an end to Free Practice, but teammate Wurz went up the order once again to P2, 0.289s off Tsolov’s session-topping time.
Qualifying-
Nikola Tsolov fired in a late lap to take his second Aramco Pole Position Award in a row.
The Campos Racing driver had been bettered by title contender Rafael Camara going into the final attempts, but one last improvement put the Bulgarian back to P1. He finished ahead of Ugo Ugochukwu, who wound up second for PREMA Racing, with Camara having to settle for third.
With the tyre preparation laps complete, TRIDENT set the early pace with Camara going to the top on a 1:46.318, 0.2s ahead of teammate Noah Stromsted in second. Ugochukwu split them on his attempt, going to within 0.023s of the Brazilian’s effort.
Tim Tramnitz delivered his first time to go top of the pile, but only briefly, as Tsolov followed to smash the time to beat with a 1:45.655, some 0.3s quicker than the MP driver in second.
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak made it a Campos 1-3, slotting into third with his initial attempt.
Everyone returned to the pitlane for a fresh set of Hard tyres and returned to the track with just over 15 minutes of the session remaining. Tramnitz cut the gap down to 0.2s to Tsolov, while teammate Bruno del Pino slotted into third for the Dutch team.
Behind them though, Camara delivered a 1:45.176 to surge to the top of the times, 0.479s quicker than Tsolov’s initial benchmark time. Stromsted put in an improvement also to go third overall with just over 10 minutes to go, while Charlie Wurz followed a few minutes later to go fourth.
With five minutes left, the circuit got busy once again. Theophile Nael moved Van Amersfoort Racing up to second to cut the deficit to provisional pole sitter Camara down to 0.3s.
Tramnitz followed that up to go second for MP, 0.296s behind the TRIDENT, but Tsolov returned to P1 with a 1:45.043 with less than half a minute to go.
Ugochukwu then went to P2 with his final attempt and just 0.023s off the top spot. Camara had a poor middle sector on his last lap and could only manage third in the end.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Tsolov, P2: Ugochukwu, P3: Camara, P4: Boya, P5: Tramnitz, P6: Wurz, P7: Stenshorne, P8: Van Hoepen, P9: Nael and P10: Leon.
It was a fast start from second for Stenshorne, but pole-sitter Alessandro Giusti had a slow getaway and dropped to fourth before reaching Turn 1.
Taponen was one of the beneficiaries of Giusti’s start as the ART driver went up to P2 ahead of his teammate van Hopen.
However, the Safety Car was deployed at the end of the opening lap as James Hedley, Nicola Lacorte, Santiago Ramos and Ivan Domingues collided at Turn 8, with all four drivers’ cars needing to be cleared up.
In a separate incident, Noel Leon and Callum Voisin made contact, forcing the PREMA Racing driver to stop on track with damage.
Back to racing conditions, Stenshorne was showing good pace out in front and had pulled out a one second gap to Taponen by the start of Lap 10, the rookie now coming under threat from van Hoepen.
Onto Lap 12, and the Norwegian’s lead was over 2.1s, while van Hoepen was less than two-tenths away from Taponen. However, by the end of the lap, the Finn driver reduced the gap to just 0.6s, while Charlie Wurz, in sixth, was now under pressure from his Trident teammate Rafael Camara.
Behind them, Mari Boya was under attack from Voisin, with his Rodin Motorsport teammates Louis Sharp and Roman Bilinski keeping a close eye on their battle.
Lap 15 of 23, Noah Stromsted reported a puncture after colliding with Brad Benavides. The damage forced the Trident rookie to retire after recovering to the pit lane.
Out in front, Stenshorne had built his lead back up to 1.3s clear by the end of Lap 17, with van Hoepen and Giusti right on the back of Taponen once again.
Onto the penultimate lap and Boya was having to hold off the Rodin trio for P8. Voisin then hit the rear of the Spaniard at the Nouvelle Chicane, causing him to have a slow exit, which allowed teammate Sharp to take ninth from him.
Back at the front, Stenshorne stormed off to win by 2.2s from Taponen, as van Hoepen rounded out the top three to achieve his first podium since the same race in 2024.
The full top 10 are- P1: Stenshorne, P2: Taponen, P3: van Hoepen, P4: Giusti, P5: Tramnitz, P6: Wurz, P7: Camara, P8: Boya, P9: Sharp and P10: Voisin.
Day 4-
It was a strong start for Tsolov, who got away well at lights out to keep the lead, but behind him the battle for a place in the top three got off to a fast start.
Bilinski immediately covered off Boya, but the Rodin driver was coming under attack from the Spaniard and his teammate Callum Voisin.
The Polish driver was able to keep the position, but Voisin then had a look to the inside of Boya at Turn 4, although the Campos #10 was able to shut the door.
The race settled down at the start of Lap 6, with Boya right on the back of Bilinski, just three-tenths separating the pair.
Behind them though and having overtaken Neol Leon at the start to go to fifth, Tim Tramnitz was closing in on the back of Vousun, who was also chasing down Boya for P3.
Lap 10 of 27 and Bilinski, having set the fastest lap on the previous tour, was within DRS range of Tsolov and built a 2.3s clear of Boya in third. Tsolov fought back on the next lap though, and by lap 13, the Campos driver had built his lead back up to two seconds.
Tsolov now 7.5s clear of Bilinski was the only driver in the top 10 lapping in the 1:26s. However, the Bulgarian’s big lead was taken away after the Safety Car was deployed on Lap 19, following Leon’s collision with the barrier at Portier.
His PREMA car was cleared and racing resumed on Lap 20, but there was a problem for Charlie Wurz. In P6, the Australian was running with a broken front wing.
Laurens van Hoepen made his way through at Tabac, but on the next lap, Wurz found the barrier Massanet, releasing the drivers behind him.
The Safety Car was soon out on track again with PREMA’s Brando Badoer stopped at Portier after a tangle with Nicola Marinangeli. The AIX driver was given a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision.
The action resumed on Lap 24 of 27 and it was more bad news for Trident, as Rafael Camara lost the rear right wheel on track, forcing him to retire from the race.
Out in front, Tsolov had marched off into the distance once more and was three seconds clear of Bilinski at the start of Lap 26.
Onto the final lap, and Voisin was fighting hard to get ahead of Boya, even brushing the barrier at Turn 1. Tsolov though had marched off into the distance and crossed the line to win for the fifth time in Formula 3.
The full top 10 are- P1: Tsolov, P2: Bilinski, P3: Boya, P4: Voisin, P5: Tramnitz, P6: van Hopen, P7: Taponen, P8: Stenshorne, P9: Sharp and P10: Giusti.
Nikola Tsolov ended Day 1 of running in Monte Carlo on top, as the Campos Racing driver led the way in Free Practice with a 1:25.622.
The Bulgarian driver beat MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz to the top time by 0.219s, as Trident’s Charlie Wurz rounded out the top three.
The drivers were immediately out on track on the carry over Medium tyres from Imola, looking to get up to speed as quickly as possible, as Callum Voisin led the way early on.
The Rodin Motorsport driver’s 1:29.512 was the benchmark but as the times improved, Tramnitz overtook P1 with a 1:28.875, leading his rookie MP teammate Alessandro Giusti by 0.114s.
The German continued to set the pace, completing a 1:27.733, before going even quicker to a 1:27.459, wit Giusti in P2 once more, over half a second behind.
The MP pairing were setting the timesheets alight as Giusti crossed the line to go P1, but only briefly as Tramnitz completed a 1:27.092 to eclipse his teammate by 0.082s.
After 25 minutes of running, the teams swapped the Mediums for the Soft tyres, looking to give the drivers a feel for the compound they will be using for the rest of the weekend.
But as the drivers set off on their laps, Trident’s Noah Stromsted collided with the barrier at Turn 1, bringing out the Red Flags with less than 12 minutes to go in the session.
Green flag conditions returned with six minutes remaining, and it was Campos’ Mari Boya that took to the top on a 1:26.393.
However, as the chequered flag waved, the fastest time changed hands several times, before Tsolov ended the session on top with a 1:25.622.
Day 2-
The first 15 drivers headed out for Qualifying and after a few preparation laps, Tsolov went fastest on a 1:26.072, with PREMA Racing’s Noel Leon in P2, 0.261s behind.
Tsolov retained his place at the top with a 1:26.647 on his next push lap, but his gap to Leon on this occasion was 0.102s, as Brad Benavides went into the top three for AIX Racing.
The drivers had time for a couple more laps and the timesheets were being set alight as there were several personal best times being set.
Leon went quickest on a 1:25.502, but he was soon beaten by the other Campos of Mari Boya by 0.022s with Charlie Wurz in P3 for Trident, just 0.034s off provisional pole.
Tsolov was flying though, and he completed a 1:24.882 to take provisional pole. Wurz followed him across the line to go second, over half a second behind the Bulgarian.
But Boya was improving once again and set the fastest first sector of the session. However, the Spaniard just did not have enough to beat Tsolov, crossing the line to go P2, 0.127s off his teammate.
Leon’s late lap took him to P3 ahead of Wurz, with Tuukka Taponen in fifth for ART Grand Prix, as Martinius Stenshorne rounded out the top six for Hitech TGR.
With another 16 minutes on the clock, the second set of drivers went out on to the track with a 1:24.882 the time to beat. Trident’s Rafael Camara set the early pace with a 1:25.635, 0.123s quicker than Voisin in second.
On the next set of laps, Voisin’s 1:25.359 was now the benchmark for the rest of the field to beat, and Bilinski made it a Rodin one-two by going to within 0.104s off his teammate’s time.
However, as the drivers set off on their next laps, PREMA’s Brando Badoer hit the barrier at Turn 1, bringing out the Red Flags.
Green flags were waved and the drivers had only just three minutes and 21 seconds to try and get their best time of the day in.
Bilinski was one of the few that could improve though. His 1:25.332 put him in P1, but it was not enough to beat Tsolov’s pole-sealing time, giving Campos their first FIA F3 pole since Spa-Francorchamps in 2023.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Tsolov, P2: Bilinski, P3: Boya, P4: Voisin, P5: Leon, P6: Tramnitz, P7: Wurz, P8: Camara, P9: Taponen and P10: van Hoepen.
Campos Racing have finalised their driver lineup for the 2025 Formula 3 campaign having confirmed that Nikola Tsolov is set to race for the Spanish team next season.
Tsolov returns for a third year in Formula 3 and after a campaign in which he achieved three victories and finished 11th in the Drivers’ Championship with ART Grand Prix.
But he reunites now with Campos, where he has enjoyed previous success having won the Spanish F4 Championship with the team back in 2022.
Tsolov was part of Alpine’s junior programme for two seasons. The Bulgarian announced the news on his socials. And since he has made a deal with Red Bull, becoming one of their junior drivers and joins the likes of Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar.
I couldn’t be happier and more thankful for joining Campos Racing again in FIA F3 for next year. Great opportunity for me as I have a successful past with the team winning in F4 Spain so it feels like going back home again. We target to continue our dominant history together! Tsolov on the news.
It is a pleasure to reunite with Nikola, a driver we have excellent memories of. He took his first steps in single-seaters with Campos Racing, winning the title in his first experience with us, and did so in an overwhelming manner. In the post-season tests we have conducted, we performed at a very high level in Jerez and Barcelona. I am confident that we are on the verge of a great year together. Team Principal, Adrian Campos Jr.
Pole sitter Beganovic covered off Bedrin on the run to Turn 1 but the AIX driver was undeterred and rounded the Swede at Turn 2 to take the lead away. Inthraphuvasak followed in third position ahead of Callum Voisin and Christian Mansell.
The ART Grand Prix driver was under attack though on lap 2 from Tim Tramnitz and his MP Motorsport rival repeated the move of Bedrin into Turn 3 to take P5 from the Australian.
The Virtual Safety Car was then deployed to neutralise the race in order to recover Matias Zagazeta’s car after contact on the opening lap left him on the sidelines.
Back to racing conditions and the top four were covered by less than a second in the lead battle. As the quartet fought, Tramnitz and Mansell joined the train after the opening exchanges, getting to within DRS range by Lap 6.
Onto lap 10 and Beganovic made a late move on Bedrin into Turn 2 but caught the grass on the inside of the corner in the process. It sent his PREMA car sideways and while he was able to catch the slide, it dropped him down to third.
Into the Turn 6 and 7 chicane, Tramnitz squeezed his way alongside Voisin, who skipped across the chicane to keep hold of fourth. The Rodin Motorsport driver was told to concede the place to Tramnitz, seeing off any potential review. One lap later, and Mansell was through on the Brit at Turn 1 for fifth.
Out in front though, Bedrin was in full control after resisting the pressure of Beganovic and crossed the line to earn his first FIA F3 victory, leading home an AIX Racing 1-2 ahead of Inthraphuvasak, a result that means all teams have now stood on the podium in 2024.
The full top 10 are- P1: Bedrin, P2: Inthraphuvasak, P3: Beganovic, P4: Tramnitz, P5: Mansell, P6: Voisin, P7: Fornaroli, P8: Browning, P9: Van Hoepen and P10: Meguetounif.
Day 3-
Van Hoepen got wheelspin in the second phase of the start and had to defend hard from his teammate Tsolov off the line. The Dutch driver ran deep at Turn 1, allowing the Bulgarian through along with VAR’s Noel Leon.
With DRS enabled, Van Hoepen began to close in on Tsolov and was within half a second on lap 3, while Leon dropped to beyond a second back from the ART duo.
Christian Mansell moved his ART up to fifth with a late dive to the inside of Santiago Ramos at Turn 1 on lap 4.
As the opening laps ticked by, Van Hoepen radioed into his team to relay his tyres were beginning to overheat in the wake of teammate Tsolov.
By the midway point of the race, the top six were covered by four seconds with Santiago Ramos some 9.6s clear of Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin who was running in P7.
In the fight for the final points places, Oliver Goethe pulled off a late dive to pass Dino Beganovic and secure himself ninth position, while behind Gabriele Mini cleared Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak to move up into 11th.
Into the final three laps and after a phase of tyre management, van Hoepen began to apply the pressure on Tsolov once again in the lead fight.
Boya’s battle with Mini resumed and the Spaniard found a gap at Turn 2 to take 11th position. Contact between Arvid Lindblad and Matias Zagazeta resulted in a late-race Safety Car on Lap 21, with the PREMA driver stopped at Turn 4.
With little time to clear both cars, it was not possible to resumed racing in time for a final lap shootout. Tsolov took his third race win of 2024 and his first F3 Feature Race victory.
The full top 10 are- P1: Tsolov, P2: Van Hoepen, P3: Leon, P4: Fornaroli, P5: Mansell, P6: Ramos, P7: Voisin, P8: Bedrin, P9: Goethe and P10: Beganovic.
Pole sitter, Stenshorne tried to cover off Mansell from lights out but the Australian was able to get alongside him into Turn 1 to take the lead. The Hitech driver tried a re-pass into Turn 3 but was left running off the track, giving Tsolov momentum to take second position into Turn 4, making it an ART 1-2.
Dino Beganovic was a spinner at Turn 1 falling from inside the top 10 down to 25th. Kacper Sztuka was an early retirement and was stranded on the circuit which required the Safety Car to neutralise things.
Racing then resumed on lap 5 and Mansell was able to retain the advantage in front. Luke Browning was on the move after his grip penalty left him from starting 15th, going three-wide into Turn 4 to pass Nikita Bedrin and Arvid Lindblad to move into 11th.
With DRS, Tsolov was able to get alongside Mansell into Turn 4 and rounded the Australian on the outside to take the lead on lap 7.
Browning moved himself into the points-paying positions at the expense of Tim Tramnitz, moving down the inside at Turn 3 on lap 10 to secure 10th from the MP driver.
Lap 12, and Fornaroli put a brave move on Bedrin to move up to 14th, passing the AIX Racing driver around the outside of Turn 6.
Lap 16, was a busy one as Montoya looked to make a move on Alex Dunne at Turn 1, but the MP driver resisted the pressure to hold onto the position.
Up further ahead, Mansell got a move at Turn 4 to stick on Tsolov, able to take the lead from his ART teammate and remain ahead. Gabriele Mini got brave and rounded Oliver Goethe on the outside at Turn 6 to secure sixth position.
Contact with Trident’s Sami Meguetounif at the end of the lap for Lindblad left the PREMA Racing rookie with a puncture and dropped him out of the points fight.
On lap 17, the fight for the lead continued with Tsolov getting back through on Mansell at Turn 4, a slow corner exit for the Australian allowed Stenshorne a run through Turn 5, putting the Norwegian up to second.
The fight for the top five places continued just behind the trio but after a heated battle Montoya made contact with Dunne and was left spinning at Turn 4. The Colombian driver out of his car and ok, but the crash required another Safety Car.
The Safety Car was withdrawn with one lap to go, setting up a final lap sprint to the finish. Tsolov got the restart he needed to put some distance between himself and Stenshorne, and the Bulgarian earned his second sprint race victory of the year ahead of the Hitech driver.
The full top 10 are- P1: Tsolov, P2: Stenshorne, P3: Mansell, P4: Dunne, P5: Van Hoepen, P6: Mini, P7: Goethe, P8: Tramnitz, P9: Leon and P10: Meguetounif.
Day 3-
Browning launched into a clear lead at the first corner while PREMA Racing teammates Lindblad, Mini and Beganovic followed in second through to fourth as Tim Tramnitz dropped down to seventh. Lindblad and Mini battled on the exit of Turn 4 which allowed Beganovic the run into Turn 6 to take third from the Italian.
That became second for the Swede on lap 2, as he dived down the inside of his teammate into Turn 3. Noel Leon was on the move too further back, taking sixth from Sebastian Montoya as he continued his charge from 13th.
Lindblad was dropping through the pack on lap 8 after brief contact with Alex Dunne into Turn 3 as the MP Motorsport driver passed Goethe. Leon, Dunne and Goethe were able to clear the Brit on the run to Turn 4 to relegate the Red Bull Junior Team driver to seventh.
Contact at Turn 3 between Mari Boya in the Campos and AIX Racing’s Nikita Bedrin brought out a Virtual Safety Cat on lap 11 while marshals retrieved the latter’s car.
Back to racing conditions and Goethe was on the attack against Leon for fourth. The slightest of touches resulted in a puncture for the Van Amersfoort Racing driver, ending his charge through the pack and tumbling down the order.
10 laps to go, everyone behind leader, Browning had DRS down to ninth-placed Tramnitz as the fight for points ebbed and flowed.
Christian Mansell made his way into sixth position with a pass around the outside of Lindblad at Turn 4 on lap 19. That became fourth for the Australian with five laps to go, diving down the inside of Goethe at Turn 4.
Mini made an attempt on Beganovic for second at Turn 3 on the following lap, but it was Mansell that went surging around the outside of the Italian at the following corner to take third. That was until Mini pulled off his own audacious pass to re-take P3 at Turn 6.
Onto the penultimate lap and the battling behind allowed Browning to break out of DRS range to Beganovic, who was under attack from teammate Mini at Turn 4, with the Alpine Academy driver securing second a Turn 6.
The full top 10 are- P1: Browning, P2: Mini, P3: Beganovic, P4: Mansell, P5: Goethe, P6: Tsolov, P7: Lindblad, P8: Vans Hoepen, P9: Fornaroli and P10: Dunne.
Nikola Tsolov will continue with ART Grand Prix this year, completing the 2024 Formula 3 grid. The Bulgarian driver will be racing in his second season in the Championship.
Tsolov finished his rookie campaign 22nd in the Drivers’ Standings, earning two points finishes in the second half of the season. He also became apart of the Alpine Academy last year in February, after he was an Affiliate in March 2022.
Prior to joining Formula 3, the 17 year old was victorious in Spanish F4, where he won the 2022 Championship with a dominant campaign. He accumulated a record 400 points, taking 13 race wins and a further five podium finishes en route to the title.
Not only this, he has had stints in Formula Regional Middle East Championship, Macau Grand Prix and Eurocup-3.
I feel very much at home at ART Grand Prix, which is one of the greatest teams ever, so it’s a pleasure to continue with them for a second year in F3. I know the team, the circuits, the procedures and, apart from the tyres, I won’t have to learn anything new. Winter testing showed that we were consistently at the top of the timesheets, and the main target will be to be at the front at every race weekend.
Tsolov on the news.
Niko has had to take a giant step forward coming from Spanish F4 and, despite the difficulties faced by the team in 2023, his determination and focus have only strengthened. The raw results haven’t been there, but we’ve seen Niko’s formidable talent grow throughout the season and the entire team is looking forward to getting off to a good start in 2024 so we can deliver results together in line with our ambitions and our work.
ART Grand Prix have confirmed that Nikola Tsolov will drive for the team in FIA Formula 3 next season. The Bulgarian drove for the French team during post-season testing at Jerez earlier this year and will now step up to F3 full-time.
Tsolov started racing in karting at 9 years old, winning the Bulgarian Republic Championship in back-to-back seasons in 2016 and ’17. Then in 2019, he claimed the WSK Open Cup the following year before going on to take second in the Italian Karting Championship and WSK Final Cup in 2021.
The Bulgarian then graduated to single seaters for 2022, dominating the Spanish F4 Championship, where he took 13 victories on the way to the title.
It’s a pleasure for me to be stepping up to FIA F3 next year with ART Grand Prix. They’ve been very successful in every championship they’ve competed in and a lot of F1 drivers have been a part of the team. So, I’m super happy to start our journey!
Tsolov on his seat.
Although it was his debut in F3 and with ART Grand Prix, during the Jerez test Nikola confirmed his ability to adapt quickly and well to a new environment as well as getting the most out of the car. His natural speed is reinforced by a great thirst for learning and by remarkable seriousness and determination for such a young age. Nikola fits the profile of the young drivers ART Grand Prix takes under its wing and, in the wake of the team securing the FIA Formula 3 with Victor Martins, we want to lay the foundations for a strong line-up, one that is capable of fighting for victory from the very first race of 2023.
Jordan's Track Talk 