Nikola Tsolov: 'We can bounce back' as he eyes title fight redemption

While he lost the lead of the Drivers' Championship in Baku, Nikola Tsolov remains steadfast in his belief that there is another twist in the title race yet to come.

The Campos Racing driver led the field for much of the season after a stellar middle phase of the campaign that included three consecutive victories leaving him with six in total.

Though rival Rafael Câmara took over the points lead at the end of Round 12, the Bulgarian says it changes nothing in terms of his approach, and the focus remains on himself rather than responding to others.

"I will focus on myself and on bouncing back from a couple of weekends that I've had some mistakes in," he said. "There have been tough moments that I managed to learn a lot from, so this is something positive I can take on and apply now.

"I've had a lot of ups and downs, just like everyone else, and it's about how you stand back on your feet, and for me, that's what I'm going to be focusing on."

The Red Bull Junior Team driver's form in the middle third of the campaign was devastating, and he says that afforded himself and Campos the room to take tough results and remain in serious contention.

However, he's eager to arrest the slide in performances, and his fightback in Baku on Sunday was evidence he has far from given up on things.

In fact, the Bulgarian driver says he expects the form table to swing back his way if he and the team continue working hard ahead of the final two rounds of the season.

"I think that middle part of the season has really helped me have an easier time with the last couple of rounds and still come out close to the lead even after these things that have happened.

"But it's not the time to relax, and I think that we're looking to bounce back to what we had in the middle of the year. Having had that cushion has been good. Unfortunately, we've lost that advantage we had over everyone else. But we've done it before, I'm sure we can do it again now."

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Overall, Tsolov believes that his approach will be rewarded. A focus inward and taking the difficult results and off days in his stride is 'part of the process'.

In Lusail and Yas Marina, it will be about minimising the mistakes and maximising the final opportunities in what has been a gripping 2026 title fight.

"It's very important to stay calm because this is just part of the journey. You can't only have good days. And to have good days, you must have bad ones, right? So I think I'm trying to enjoy the process, as hard as it can be.

"The process is having those mistakes and bad days and unlucky situations, then embracing it, take the most out of it and get back to work and see how you can build on that.

"I've had really bad weekends such as Canada or Miami and yet, we came back and we pulled that margin. So for me, there's always the light at the end of the tunnel. And I think that should be coming soon."