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Justin Carter's DraftKings and FanDuel DFS lineup picks for the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix. Read our daily fantasy F1 advice and sleepers analysis.
For the second week in a row, Formula 1 is in North America. Last weekend it was the United States Grand Prix, which was won by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. This week, it’s the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Last season in this race, Max Verstappen led 26 of 56 laps on his way to the win, defeating McLaren's Lando Norris by 10.73 seconds. Carlos Sainz Jr. was on the podium as well.
Below you will find our Formula 1 DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the Mexico City Grand Prix on 10/27/24, with the slate locking at 4:00 p.m. EDT. If you have any questions or want to talk about Formula 1, you can find me on Twitter at @juscarts.
Captain: Carlos Sainz Jr. ($14.7K)
Starts First
I had a lot of fun building lineups this weekend. It definitely feels like there are more possibilities for making exciting lineups now that the pricing has gotten a bit more compressed as more drivers have become competitive.
HE'S A SMOOOOOOTH OPERATOR!!! 👏👏
CARLOS SAINZ TAKES POLE IN MEXICO!! 🇲🇽#F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/emaZzgoGwk
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 26, 2024
Last weekend, Ferrari took the top two spots in the United States Grand Prix. This weekend, the team looks just as strong, especially Carlos Sainz Jr., who was second in FP1, first in FP2, third in FP3, and then first in qualifying.
Constructor: Haas F1 Team ($3.3K)
The Haas cars have made some nice strides lately, moving up to sixth in the constructor standings. This weekend, the top Haas was fifth in FP1, sixth in FP2, and ninth in FP3. In qualifying, both cars landed top 10 starting spots. Only Ferrari and Mercedes join them as teams with both cars in the top 10 on the starting grid.
Lando Norris ($12.4K)
Starts Third
Lando Norris hasn't been as fast this weekend as he needs to be to make up for losing ground to Max Verstappen last week in the title fight, but he still should be a contender for a podium on Sunday after going P2 in FP3 on Saturday and then qualifying third.
lando norris you have made history pic.twitter.com/MYXc6TlRYW
— ⁴💚 (@lanlandedd) October 21, 2024
Norris has won three times this season with an average finish of 4.1. That includes 11 podiums in 19 starts for the British driver. While he still faces an uphill battle for the title and some recent changes to the McLaren car could negate the advantage this team was gaining, Norris is still a strong bet to battle for the win each week.
Max Verstappen ($12.0K)
Starts Second
It's been a while since Max Verstappen landed on top of the podium. The last time was in June at the Spanish Grand Prix. There have been nine races since then, with Verstappen coming up short each time.
Don't forget Max Verstappen has led after Lap 1 in five of the last six races at the Mexican GP
Leader after Lap 1
2023: Verstappen
2022: Verstappen
2021: Verstappen
2019: Leclerc
2018: Verstappen
2017: Verstappen pic.twitter.com/Ldujp7udgn— Daniel Valente 🏎️ (@F1GuyDan) October 27, 2024
But Verstappen comes into this race with two consecutive podiums. Has the Red Bull slide finally come to an end? He finally finished ahead of Norris last week to earn points back to his championship lead. There's some momentum from Max.
Liam Lawson ($4.2K)
Starts 12th
This Visa CashApp RB team made a major move before COTA, moving on from Daniel Ricciardo and bringing Liam Lawson up to take over the No. 30 car.
Lawson responded by immediately finishing ninth. In one race, Lawson is already ahead of two full-time drivers in the standings. He starts one spot behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda, but Lawson's brief F1 track record has me preferring him in fantasy. Not to mention that Lawson is $200 cheaper, which can matter at the margins.
Kevin Magnussen ($3.4K)
Starts Seventh
Alright, here's the risky play of the race. But like I said earlier, Haas is running better and while most of that is Nico Hulkenberg, Kevin Magnussen has shown some glimpses at times. In the last three races, he has finishes of 10th and 11th.
What a qualifying from haas and Kevin Magnussen P7 👏 pic.twitter.com/ShO8c4CpWy
— kevthef1guy (@Kevgr6315) October 26, 2024
Sure, Hulkenberg usually earns the five points for defeating his teammate, but Magnussen has grabbed those points in two of the past five races.
Magnussen also costs $3.4K. Hulkenberg is $5.0K. Huge gap there, so if you trust the recent uptick in Magnussen's production and think both Haas cars will run well this weekend based on how Friday and Saturday went, you can get an edge by going with Mag.
How Does Formula 1 Fantasy Work?
Here's how the scoring and format work for F1 DFS on DraftKings. You'll pick five drivers and a constructor. One of those drivers will be your captain, who earns you 1.5 times the points but also costs 1.5 times as much as they usually cost. For the constructor, you're choosing one of the F1 teams.
So here's how the scoring works. Your driver only gets points if they finish in the top 10. Here's a chart for how that breaks down:
| Finishing Spot | DraftKings Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 25 |
| 2 | 18 |
| 3 | 15 |
| 4 | 12 |
| 5 | 10 |
| 6 | 8 |
| 7 | 6 |
| 8 | 4 |
| 9 | 2 |
| 10 | 1 |
In addition, the driver with the fastest lap of the race gets three points. You get 0.1 points per lap led, five points for beating your teammate, one point for being classified at the finish (finished 90% of the race, essentially), and points for place differential.
Finish three spots higher than your grid position and you get two points. Finish five better and you get three points. Finish 10 better to get five points. You also lose points for a negative place differential, starting at three spots.
The constructor points work the same way, with some added points if both cars do well. It's confusing, but for Formula 1 DFS to work, it probably had to be confusing, considering the huge gaps in speed between various teams and the small driver pool.
