‘You cannot ask for more’ – Campos praises ‘top driver’ Tsolov after victory in Melbourne

Adrián Campos says Nikola Tsolov performed like a “top driver” to win the Melbourne Feature Race.

Starting in fifth, Tsolov inherited the lead of the race on Lap 3, and managed two Safety Car restarts, while also fending off competition from rival Rafael Câmara to win his first race in Formula 2.

It brought an end to a strong weekend for Campos Racing, with Noel León achieving a podium in his first ever F2 race, finishing second in the Sprint.

Speaking in the paddock on Sunday afternoon, Team Principal Campos expressed his delight at the weekend.

“Yes, it has been very, very, very good,” said Campos on Round 1 in Melbourne. “Yesterday there were signs, and today it's very nice to win with Nikola.

“It's a redemption from yesterday, because it was not his day yesterday, but today he nailed it. So there is nothing we could say about him. Today he drove like a top driver, you cannot ask for more from him.

“Noel, today, had a bad start. He was in the middle of the mess in the first lap, and that compromised the whole race.

“But still, we look back at the race that he did yesterday, and this means that he still has a lot of potential to show, and I am sure that it's not going to be the last podium.

“I'm sure that he's going to be very strong this season. So hopefully, at the end of the year, with both drivers, we should be up in the standings. Let’s see if we can finally fight for the title. We will do our best.”

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Following the cancellation of the 2025 Melbourne Feature Race, it means Campos have won the last two Sunday events at Albert Park.

Tsolov’s victory this past weekend comes after Isack Hadjar took a dominant win for the Spanish outfit in the Feature back in 2024.

It also came just a couple of hours after Campos won the FIA Formula 3 Feature Race with Ugo Ugochukwu in Melbourne. For Adrián Campos, it is a testament to how well his team is operating.

“To be honest, we have been here very few times, so we are not experts,” said Campos. “But I guess the team did a good job. They did all the simulations and all the test items for this race and for the upcoming races.

“So I have to congratulate every team member, because at the moment, we can see that we have been competitive since the beginning, and we need to keep working hard to stay like this.”

For the first time in their Formula 2 history, Campos are fielding two rookies in Tsolov and León. In addition to that, the Bulgarian was joined by Câmara and Laurens van Hoepen on the podium, two drivers in their first full seasons.

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Campos was full of praise for this current generation of drivers, and says they are delighted to have two of those leading their charge this season.

“Yes, it's true, it was an all-rookie podium,” said Campos. “That shows the level that we had last year in F3.

“They were very, very strong. It's a very strong generation that's coming. That's what we saw today and probably will see the rest of the year. A lot of rookies will be winning races, and thankfully two of them are with us.”