Tsolov ready for tough Qualifying at Spa after promising speed in Practice

Nikola Tsolov continued from where he left off at Silverstone, topping Free Practice around Spa-Francorchamps, and the Campos Racing driver retains his confidence from recent rounds.

The Bulgarian logged a 1:58.927 to lead the pack on Friday morning but is wary of getting carried away so early in the weekend.

Instead, he says he and Campos will be diving into the data to anticipate the step in compound, with drivers fitting the purple-marked Supersoft tyres for the first time around Spa.

"I did feel confident coming into the session. It's a great track, so it's all about enjoying it and finding a tow, which we did. And then I just felt relaxed, confident. I took everything step-by-step.

"The car was in a good window, but, it's only Practice, so we'll look forward to keep that up. We're making a compound step as well, going to the Supersoft. So things might flip around a little bit, but I hope we keep our pace."

Tsolov achieved his best time slightly later than his rivals, with the team opting to release him onto the track in a gap where things weren't as crowded on circuit.

He says that it was a conscious decision, but rather than any intention to avoid traffic, it was more about tyre preparation.

"It was just a run plan thing we planned. Here, the track is very long, so the tyres do tend to struggle quite a bit and you don't need to do as many laps as in other FPs. So going out later wasn't compromising our run, and we decided to do it."

Looking ahead to the grid-setting session this afternoon, the Red Bull Junior Team driver says that keeping the Pirelli tyres alive around the lap will be a struggle.

Though drivers were able to find improvements on subsequent laps in Practice, the softer compound Supersofts will struggle according to the Campos driver, making it even more important to get a clean lap in at the first time of asking.

"I think it will be a half a lap tyre, to be honest! It's going to be interesting because it's the first time we'll be using it around here, and I think it won't be easy. I think we'll be actually struggling towards Sector 2 already on our first push.

"So I do believe that everyone will be going like Barcelona quali, doing just two laps on both sets and that's it. But I hope that we keep pole within reach."