Nikola Tsolov: Melbourne victory ‘my biggest win’

Nikola Tsolov says that his Melbourne Feature Race victory was a hugely important result for him beyond the points he earned.

The Campos Racing driver endured a difficult weekend up to Sunday, saying that he felt he missed out on a possible pole position on Friday, and then suffered a point-less Sprint Race on Saturday.

Speaking after the Feature Race, Tsolov said that his rebound on Sunday was emblematic of his approach to the Formula 2 Championship in 2026, and it was a very satisfying drive to the top step.

“I'm feeling super happy, very satisfied because I believe in qualifying, I should have been on pole, but the pace was really strong and unfortunately we caught some traffic which prevented us from doing so.

“Then yesterday it was just a really tough race, wrong place, wrong time, the whole time. So to come away from a bad day into a really good day is what I was aiming for. I stayed resilient and this is the biggest win for me, more than just the result.”

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He added that he had no doubts he was going to visit the top step at some point in 2026. But, Tsolov says that it was a very important result to achieve early in the season as it reinforced his belief that his approach to 2026 is the right one.

“I have to say that a win this year was something I was never doubting. I knew it would come at some point with all the hard work, but I just knew I worked for this moment for so long and I knew I've worked harder than everyone for this round particularly just because historically, it hasn't been the best for me.

“I was just repeating that to myself the whole race. I knew last night was tough for me and this morning I was trying to keep my head up and come back on my feet, which happened.

“So for sure this is the right approach to take into the whole year and it's a good example of what I should be doing throughout the season.”

It was a measured drive to the win on Sunday, as he remained out of trouble and maximised his pace at key moments in the race.

Keeping calm was the crucial factor according to the Red Bull Junior Team driver, as he believed his speed would bring him into contention eventually.

“The start was really strong. I seem to do well going from fifth historically, so that's quite funny. But I got a good start, good launch. I think I did a procedure very nice and then ended up in third already on Lap 1. To be fair, I had the chance to go maybe for first in T1, but I just knew the race was long and that was not worth the risk.

“Then I just let it unfold a little bit and then I saw the two Rodins fighting really, really hard. So, then I just let them do their thing and I avoided the crash, which was important for me. Once I got the race lead, that's when I felt the best. I felt confident and I just knew how to lead the race.”

Leaving Melbourne, Tsolov says his confidence moving forward is growing, but he will be keeping his approach the same despite his early advantage in the Drivers’ Championship.

“I am feeling confident, but at the same time I'm staying humble because this Championship, it's up and down the whole time.

“I know there are going to be bad days, and I know there's going to be good ones. I’ll just try to stay as consistent as possible throughout the year. And I think that's what's going to get us the Championship.”