Nikola Tsolov pulled off a stunning charge from 11th on the grid to finish second in the Baku Feature Race 2, a performance he declared was "much more than a win" for him and Campos Racing.
It was a turbulent weekend in Round 12 for the Bulgarian driver. Early on, Tsolov and his team struggled significantly with pace, resulting in a fifth-place finish in the Sprint Race and the bitter blow of losing the championship lead for the first time since Silverstone during Feature Race 1. Yet, the adversity only set the stage for a remarkable turnaround.
From being almost the slowest in the Sprint Race to being the quickest today just shows our spirit and how we worked within the team to turn around things,
Saturday's Feature Race 2 started out in the thick of the midfield traffic, with Tsolov trapped in 10th place for the bulk of the opening stint. But an inspired strategy call by the driver and Campos Racing to stay out longer on track—despite two Virtual Safety Cars—completely flipped the script. Crucially, the VSC periods allowed him to cool down his tyres, keeping the Supersofts in their optimal operating window while the pace remained devastatingly strong. When he finally pitted, he emerged virtually in fifth place.
Once clear air was found, the machine came alive. Tsolov carved his way past Laurens van Hoepen and Martinius Stenshorne to claim third, before setting his sights on Câmara and Alexander Dunne in the dying laps, dragging himself to within DRS range of Câmara.
Locked entirely in the zone, Tsolov admitted he completely blanked out the external noise during his charge. "I actually don't remember most of the race because I was really in the tunnel, really focused, and you don't think about anything," he said.
Reflecting on the grueling weekend, Tsolov emphasized that the resilience shown by everyone at Campos Racing outweighed the loss of the championship lead. "From being almost the slowest in the Sprint Race to being the quickest today just shows our spirit and how we worked within the team to turn around things," he concluded.
