Nikola Tsolov on the title fight, learning from his rivals and 'seeing the bigger picture'

He heads into the summer break as the Championship leader, but that doesn't mean Nikola Tsolov believes his season has been perfect.

The Campos Racing driver has achieved an impressive six race victories already in 2026 and has a 20-point advantage over closest challenger Gabriele Minì.

That is down to hard work, and Tsolov says that the tougher start to the year informed his and the team's approach to the summer rounds, and he feels there's even more performance to come.

"It feels good, just because obviously the work we've been putting on the off-season and behind the scenes has really been paying off a lot recently," he explained.

"Overcoming those tough moments in the beginning of the year I think has made us stronger, made us understand everything better. And everything that's in our control we try to manage it. And it's obviously been a great run of a few weekends, but I do think there is more to come.

"Even though it almost feels like it cannot go much better, I do feel like there's more for me and the team to improve together. And I'm looking forward with more confidence."

Silverstone marks the stand-out weekend of Tsolov's year to date, sweeping both races and setting a new record for consecutive race victories in the Championship with three.

It came after a deceptively successful Qualifying session according to Tsolov, as the Bulgarian wound up fifth in the order and was very happy with the result.

While he had title rivals ahead of him, he and Campos knew they were well placed to move forward, as he explains.

"It's about maximising the weekend, which I think we were the only ones to really do it. And that put us in the position we were. Because I think already in Qualifying 5th, obviously it doesn't sound great, but looking at what happened last year and how the car could have behaved, we were really happy with it.

READ MORE

• Sebastián Montoya on his Colombia inspired race suit and supporting Maluma’s new album on his helmet

"I was quite happy honestly with fifth. I mean I was just happy with the job I did myself. So then the result was a consequence that I cannot change the outcome. I'm just happy with the lap I did, because I was really under pressure. We thought we were outside of the top ten at some point.

"Then in the races we just flipped the car and we had a massive positive change, which we found to be a trend over the year. What works, what doesn't, and I think that should make us even stronger going into now."

While Tsolov remains the driver to beat, he goes into the summer break after a tough pair of weekends in Spa and Budapest. Minì and Rafael Câmara are second and third respectively and have closed the gap to the leader.

Interestingly, the Red Bull Junior Team driver has taken the recent setbacks in his stride. He puts that down to a change in mentality earlier in the season that then put him on the path to the accolades this year so far.

"Nothing really changes. I think you always try to do your best. And I think the approach I've taken since Monaco has been the right one and the one I'll be taking. What changed in Monaco? I saw the bigger picture.

"It's not about winning every race. It's about scoring the most points over the whole championship. And I was coming from a weekend in Canada where I was giving it everything in every single lap, every single race, every single session. Which theoretically is what you want to see.

READ MORE

• Rafael Câmara on his 2026 title mentality, jumping in a Ferrari and Formula 1 prospects

"I was really passionate about the whole weekend and everything. But it caused some situations that could have been avoided. Obviously a lot of them were just bad luck, others could have changed the outcome.

"So I decided, look, I don't need to win everything. I know I can, but I don't need to. And the sooner you realise that, the better it is for you.

"And for me, seeing what Gabriele was doing was a great example. I learned from him and put that into my strengths, from weaknesses to strengths. So I just try to see what everyone is really good at and combine that into one for myself.

"We all have strong points. I have, Gabi has, Rafa has. And one of my strong points I feel like is developing and learning.

"So I just use that strength to better myself. And for sure this is an approach I'll be taking on for the rest of the year."