Campos Racing and Nikola Tsolov retain the lead after Madring as León finishes fourth on Saturday
The FIA Formula 2 championship made its debut at the Madring circuit, venue for the eleventh round of the season as part of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, providing an important test for Campos Racing and its drivers Nikola Tsolov and Noel León. Despite the complexities and circumstances faced by the Alzira-based outfit, the team has retained both championship leads and heads into the final stages of the season in a strong position.
The unique characteristics of Madring became apparent from Free Practice onwards. Any mistake can result in a collision with the barriers and significant damage to the car. That was already the case during the morning session, when a red flag caused by a car catching fire after hitting the wall curtailed a large part of the planned running. Nevertheless, Tsolov ended the session at the top of the timesheets with a 1m47.059s lap. León, meanwhile, stopped the clock at 1m49.260s, with the main objective being to explore the limits of the track without ever overstepping them.
The same pattern continued in qualifying at midday, with no fewer than three red flags interrupting the session following three separate incidents involving the barriers. Tsolov eventually climbed to fifth place with a personal best of 1m44.938s. León posted the eighth-fastest time with a 1m45.155s lap, providing another solid starting position for the two races across the weekend.
Saturday brought the 23-lap Sprint Race, with the top ten on the qualifying grid reversed, leaving León third and Tsolov sixth. At the start, León held on to third place while his Bulgarian team-mate gained one position to move up to fifth. However, the race was quickly neutralised when Nico Varrone and Kush Maini collided and were forced into retirement. Racing resumed on lap five, with Laurens van Hoepen immediately putting León under pressure for third place. The Mexican defended successfully against the Dutchman’s attack at Turn 13 on lap seven. Despite León’s resistance, van Hoepen eventually completed the pass two laps later, dropping León to fourth, ahead of Tsolov.
León was experiencing some tyre issues and was struggling to match the pace of the drivers ahead. Tsolov attempted to overtake him on a couple of occasions, but, with the race approaching its conclusion, the Bulgarian lost the rear of his car under acceleration at Turn 17, forcing him into retirement. Despite the difficulties, León held on to take fourth place at the chequered flag.
Sunday’s 32-lap Feature Race promised to be another strategic puzzle even before the start, as the excellent durability of the softer tyre compound brought its performance almost in line with the hard tyre. This added an extra layer of complexity to the strategic calculations. Tsolov ultimately opted to start on the hard compound, while León went for the soft.
When the lights went out, Tsolov made a very strong start despite being on the hard tyres and came close to moving into fourth place, but Martinius Stenshorne managed to close the gap through the opening two corners. León gained one position, while Maini went into the barriers to trigger the first Safety Car period. The Safety Car returned to the pits on lap six, with León running at a strong pace and subsequently surprising Roman Bilinski to move into sixth place.
It was not until around lap ten that the first pit stops began among the leading runners, with León making his mandatory stop on lap eleven. Tsolov followed on lap 13 and emerged ahead of Rafael Câmara, his main rival in the championship fight. However, traffic ahead prevented Tsolov from building a gap, while Câmara made contact with Oliver Goethe, sending the latter into the wall and triggering another Safety Car period.
The situation was particularly costly for Tsolov, as it allowed the drivers ahead to complete their mandatory pit stops while losing considerably less time than they had previously. To make matters worse, contact had damaged several elements of Tsolov’s car, including the front wing, which had lost one of its endplates and consequently generated less aerodynamic downforce. Tsolov therefore dropped several positions and fell outside the points, while León suffered a similar fate after being handed a five-second penalty for track limits.
Tsolov remains at the top of the drivers’ championship with 177 points, while León is fifth with 119. In the teams’ standings, as previously mentioned, Campos Racing retains first place with 296 points.
The next round will take place on 25 and 26 September at another circuit with similar characteristics, the Baku City Circuit.
