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Justin Carter's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the 2025 Formula 1 São Paulo Grand Prix. Read our daily fantasy F1 advice and sleepers analysis.
After an off week, Formula 1 is back in action this weekend at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the São Paulo Grand Prix. Last race saw Lando Norris win and edge past his teammate, Oscar Piastri, for the points lead. That lead grew to nine points after Saturday's Sprint race.
That lead might grow after Sunday as well, since Norris is on the pole while Piastri starts fourth. After looking like McLaren's best driver for much of the season, Piastri has come back to earth and Norris is asserting himself at the right time.
Below, you will find our Formula 1 DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the São Paulo City Grand Prix on 11/9/25, with the slate locking at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Looking to chat about F1? Then you can find me on X at @juscarts, or over on Bluesky.
Happy New Year! Save 30% on any Premium Pass using discount code NEW. Win more with our DFS, Betting and Season-Long Pass, get expert tools and advice from proven winners! GAIN ACCESSWant to build a winning fantasy F1 lineup? Check out our How To Play F1 Fantasy (Formula 1): Overview Guide, Tips, Chips, and Rules for all the essential tips and strategies to get you started on the right foot.
Captain: Lando Norris ($19.5K)
Starts First
I love how the starting grid shook out this weekend, because it means you can afford to pay up for Lando Norris as your Captain while still building a solid lineup around him. You don't always have that luxury.
Norris has felt like the best McLaren driver since the start of the year if we're talking about pure driver skill, but some bad luck has had him behind Piastri. Now that Norris has finally flipped the script and taken the points lead, there's a chance he runs away with this thing.
LANDO NORRIS TAKES POLE AT INTERLAGOS!!!
A stunning final lap when it mattered 💪 #F1 #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/AIJvPPS7LY
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 8, 2025
He'll start on the pole on Sunday. Six consecutive F1 races this season have been won from the pole, including Norris' Mexico City win. At the same time, eight of the last 11 races here at Interlagos have been won from the pole.
Am I worried about one of the notable exceptions to that — Max Verstappen's win from 17th last year? Sure, a little. It's a little eerie that Verstappen starts 16th this time around. The narrative if he has that kind of comeback performance here for a second year in a row would be insane.
But really, the chances that Verstappen can drive through this field again this year feel slim. Last year was a very weird race, with the wet weather creating the perfect confluence of events for Verstappen to make a miracle comeback through the field. Don't expect a repeat.
Constructor: Racing Bulls ($3.2K)
Could Racing Bulls score double points for the third time this season? Possibly!
Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson start fifth and seventh, respectively, making them one of just three constructors to have both drivers make it to Q3.
The big question here is if Lawson can stick in the top 10 throughout this race. Based on his past results this season, he should be able to do just that. Lawson has started in the top 10 six times this season and has held on to a top 10 finishing spot in four of those races. He crashed in one of those.
It's always risky to play a value constructor in DFS, as they lack the upside to lead laps and get podiums, but the chance of double points this week makes Racing Bulls interesting.
Charles Leclerc ($10.6K)
Starts Third
Lost in some of the discussion about the McLarens and Verstappen is Charles Leclerc comes into this weekend off of back-to-back podium finishes.
P3 babyyyyy. Happy with that quali considering the difficult weekend so far.
Eyes onto tomorrow 😘 pic.twitter.com/jiEB260NqV— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) November 8, 2025
He's also finished as the top Ferrari driver in all but three races this season, thoroughly outperforming his new teammate, Lewis Hamilton. With Hamilton starting 13th on Sunday, Leclerc shouldn't have much of a problem continuing that trend.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli ($6.6K)
Starts Second
The pricing gap between Andrea Kimi Antonelli and his teammate George Russell is very, very wide. Obviously, a huge part of that is because Russell is the better driver, but it also means that on occasion, DFS players can take advantage of getting a Mercedes driver for $6.6K.
This looks to be one of those occasions. Antonelli finished second in the Sprint on Saturday and then went out and qualified second as well.
Antonelli's overall production this season has been very up-and-down, but his performance so far this weekend offers clear reason to trust him in DFS contests.
Isack Hadjar ($5.2K)
Starts Fifth
If you play Racing Bulls as your constructor, you might as well stack it with one of the team's drivers. Lawson is cheaper, but Hadjar starts fifth and has been the better driver all season.
Isack Hadjar: “After a tricky Sprint race this morning, I’m glad that we put it all together during a hectic Qualifying session. There were very difficult conditions out there and despite having a fast a car, for most of the time I was just fighting with it. It wasn’t easy at all… pic.twitter.com/H9kssVNZHY
— Lucho Yoma (@LucianoYoma) November 8, 2025
Entering Sunday's race, Hadjar has finished outside of the points in three consecutive races, but he had a three-race streak of points finishes before that.
Hadjar was also the top Racing Bulls driver in the Sprint by a wide margin, finishing in 10th while Lawson was back in 16th. If only one Racing Bull manages to hold on to a points finish, my money is on Hadjar being the guy.
Ollie Bearman ($4.4K)
Starts Eighth
There was a point during qualifying where I dared to believe that Ollie Bearman was going to earn the pole. Alas, that didn't come to fruition, but his eighth-place starting spot puts him in a great spot to score points for the fourth race in a row.
It's been a strong run here for Bearman, and he's now finished as the top Haas driver in eight of the last nine races. Somehow, Bearman is only $1K more expensive than Esteban Ocon, though it seems that gap should be larger. Ocon starts 17th 0n Sunday, so unless Bearman crashes or something on the car breaks, he'll earn you fantasy points for defeating his teammate.
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: Isack Hadjar
- Williams: Carlos Sainz Jr.
- Haas: Ollie Bearman
- Sauber: Nico Hulkenberg
- Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso
- Alpine: Pierre Gasly
Last race's record: 6-4
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.
