The Alzira-based outfit heads to Australia for the opening round of the fourteen-event 2026 calendar. Noel León and Nikola Tsolov will be aiming to build on the strong form shown in pre-season testing and return from the Albert Park Circuit with the maximum haul of points
The countdown is almost over and, with it, the start of the 2026 FIA Formula 2 Championship season, in which Campos Racing will field an all-new driver pairing made up of Nikola Tsolov and Noel León. Two young drivers, yet already proven talents with a wealth of success in the junior ranks. Over a campaign featuring no fewer than fourteen scoring events – beginning this weekend in Australia and concluding in early December in Abu Dhabi – the Spanish team’s objective will once again be to fight for both the Drivers’ and Teams’ titles, as it has done in recent seasons.
At just nineteen years of age, Tsolov embarks on his first full FIA Formula 2 campaign after making his initial appearances in the category last year. In the final two rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, Tsolov stepped into the Red Bull-liveried car as a member of the Junior Team, scoring points on debut and climbing to third place on the podium in his second outing. Not a bad introduction. The “Bulgarian Lion”, who made his single-seater debut by winning the F4 Spain title with Campos Racing in 2022, most recently secured the runner-up position in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, also with the Alzira-based squad. Following the extensive work carried out over the winter, Tsolov is expected to be one of the championship’s leading protagonists from the very outset.
León, despite being a rookie in FIA F2, is a driver who has consistently impressed in his debut seasons. The Monterrey-born Mexican boasts titles in NACAM F4, the Formula 4 United States Championship and Euroformula Open, in addition to a podium finish at the Macau Grand Prix and further rostrum appearances in his maiden FIA Formula 3 campaign. After highly encouraging post-season and pre-season collective tests, León approaches the start of the FIA F2 campaign with maximum motivation.
The opening round of the year is always something of an unknown, and this season will be even more so as the action gets underway on the semi-permanent Albert Park Circuit. The track, which runs around Melbourne’s Albert Park Lake, first hosted the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in 1996 and has since established itself as one of the most demanding and technical venues on the calendar.
Following the modifications introduced in 2021 – which replaced the slower section at Turns 9 and 10 with a high-speed sequence – the circuit now measures 5.278 kilometres in length. Despite its street-circuit nature, many corners feature generous run-off areas, although gravel traps and the occasional wall can swiftly end a driver’s hopes. The asphalt, which is relatively low in abrasiveness, tends to improve as the weekend progresses. Overall, it is a medium-downforce circuit with braking demands and tyre wear levels similar to many of the tracks the drivers will encounter throughout the year.
Due to the time difference between Australia and Europe, Free Practice will get underway shortly before midnight from Thursday to Friday (Spanish time), with Qualifying scheduled for the early hours at 4:55am. The first race, the Sprint, will take place on Saturday at 4:10am, while Sunday’s Feature Race is set to start at 1:25am.
Adrián Campos (Campos Racing Team Principal): “We head into this first round in Australia with great enthusiasm, as it marks the curtain-raiser for the 2026 FIA Formula 2 season. The tests we carried out at the end of last year, together with those completed recently in Barcelona, indicate that we are quite competitive. That said, this is an extremely high-level championship and we remain cautious ahead of the Albert Park Circuit, a street track that adds an extra layer of difficulty as the opening round. Historically, it has suited us well and we will give our maximum to turn those positive feelings into a strong haul of points that can provide a valuable foundation on which to build our title bid in 2026.”
