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Justin Carter's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the 2025 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Read our daily fantasy F1 advice and sleepers analysis.
F1 heads to Baku this weekend for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. A chaotic qualifying session has Max Verstappen on the pole beside Williams driver Carlos Sainz Jr., while the top McLaren driver on the grid is Lando Norris all the way back in seventh. It's the first time all season that there hasn't been a McLaren on one of the first two rows.
Could we see a non-McLaren winner on Sunday? With Verstappen winning at Monza last race, a second consecutive win for the defending champion would mark the first time all season that McLaren went consecutive races without a victory.
Below, you will find our Formula 1 DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the Dutch Grand Prix on 9/21/25, with the slate locking at 7:00 a.m. EDT. If you have any questions or want to talk about Formula 1, you can find me on X at @juscarts or on Bluesky.
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Captain: Max Verstappen ($17.4K)
Starts First
Max Verstappen is back on pole this weekend in Baku, making this the second race in a row that Verstappen has landed at the top of the grid following Q3. Last race at Monza, he turned that into 42 laps led and a victory.
MAX VERSTAPPEN TAKES POLE IN BAKU!!! 🤩#F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/ZSI9KdVqg9
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 20, 2025
Looking at the starting grid, there's no obvious early challenger to Verstappen. Carlos Sainz Jr. is sharing the front row with him, while Row 2 consists of Liam Lawson and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The first driver who could give him trouble is George Russell, who starts fifth.
The McLaren cars will be fast. I expect them to make moves up toward the podium. But without a well-timed safety car, Verstappen looks likely to build up a big enough advantage early on to cruise out front for a long time.
Constructor: Red Bull ($8.7K)
This one is simple: I think Verstappen wins the race, so I'm going to pay $8.7K to stack him with his constructor in a disproportionately high number of lineups.
It also helps that teammate Yuki Tsunoda starts sixth, giving this team a decent shot at double points. Tsunoda has disappointed since moving from Racing Bulls up to the main Red Bull team, but he scored points two races ago at Zandvoort and should have a shot to hold on to a top 10 position on Sunday in Baku.
George Russell ($10.0K)
Starts Fifth
You can probably guess by now that I'm fading McLaren this weekend. Honestly, that move might come back to bite me, but I'm betting on the team struggling to get through traffic, allowing Verstappen to run away with this thing. And if I can't envision getting a victory out of one of the McLaren cars, then I can't justify paying their massive salaries. Might as well save some money by going with George Russell.
Russell starts one spot behind teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, but that shouldn't matter. Russell is Mercedes' best driver and is still hoping to catch Verstappen for third in points. He'll get past his rookie teammate very quickly here and will set his sights on at least second place. The question is whether he can hold off the inevitable charge of the McLaren cars.
Carlos Sainz Jr. ($5.6K)
Starts Second
Yes, it's possible we lose some place differential points here, but with Carlos Sainz Jr.'s Williams teammate starting in last place, it's going to be tough for Sainz to lose the "defeated teammate" points this weekend.
A young Carlos Sainz fan asked if he could wear a unicorn on his helmet for Baku... He obliged and then secured his best ever qualifying result for Williams. Lucky charm 🦄 pic.twitter.com/mPfvnpRBCZ
— Autosport (@autosport) September 20, 2025
Sainz's move to Williams this year hasn't gone according to plan, but Sunday offers him his best chance so far to score big. Sainz hasn't scored a single point in the past six races, but he also hasn't had this kind of speed.
There have been three races this year where Sainz qualified on Row 3. He lost positions in each of those races, but still finished in the points. From his Row 1 starting spot, he should be able to hang on to a finish somewhere around fifth.
Gabriel Bortoleto ($4.6K)
Starts 13th
Rookie Gabriel Bortoleto is on a strong run lately, scoring points in three of the past four races. His 13th-place starting spot this weekend makes it an uphill task to do so again, but don't count him out entirely.
As far as defeating teammate Nico Hulkenberg and earning those points goes, Bortoleto was faster in FP2 and in the first round of qualifying, which saw Hulkenberg eliminated while Bortoleto advanced. Hulkenberg will start 17th on Sunday, putting Bortoleto in a pretty solid position there.
Lance Stroll ($3.6K)
Starts 14th
Spoiler alert: If you keep scrolling down to the part of the article where I make my picks for "defeated teammate" points, you'll see that I have Fernando Alonso getting them for Aston Martin. He starts 11th while Lance Stroll starts 14th.
Lance Stroll: We had a good Q1, but only got a couple laps on the board in Q2 because the wind was changing direction every lap.
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) September 20, 2025
With that said, taking a bet on Stroll at $3.6K isn't an awful idea. He's finished ahead of Alonso in four of the past five races as the two Aston Martin cars seem to have really evened out this year in a way they hadn't in the other seasons that these two drivers were paired.
In fact, Stroll sits one spot ahead of Alonso in the overall standings at the moment, with Stroll in 11th and Alonso in 12th. Alonso has the better average finish by 0.9 spots, but it's close enough that Stroll is now a viable DFS option at his price point.
Defeated Teammate Picks
Here are the picks for who will come out on top for each constructor.
- McLaren: Lando Norris
- Mercedes: George Russell
- Red Bull: Max Verstappen
- Ferrari: Charles Leclerc
- Racing Bulls: Liam Lawson
- Williams: Carlos Sainz Jr.
- Haas: Ollie Bearman
- Sauber: Gabriel Bortoleto
- Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso
- Alpine: Pierre Gasly
Last race's record: 9-1. We just missed out on going a perfect 10-0 by one spot, as Lance Stroll finished 18th and Fernando Alonso finished 19th.
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, and there are points for place differential.
Finish three spots higher than your grid position, and you will get two points. Finish five better, and you get three points. Finish 10 positions 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.
