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Justin Carter's DraftKings and FanDuel DFS lineup picks for the Formula 1 French Grand Prix. Read our daily fantasy Formula 1 advice and sleepers analysis.
Who's ready for some Formula 1 DFS? This week, we head to France for the French Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen set to start on the front row. Verstappen leads the points standings over Leclerc by 37 points, but Ferrari has now won two races in a row.
Last year, Max Verstappen won this race. Since this circuit returned to F1 in 2018, only Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have won here.
Below you will find our Formula 1 DraftKings DFS lineup picks for 7/24/22, with the slate locking at 9:00 a.m. ET. If you have any questions or want to talk about Formula 1, you can find me on Twitter at @juscarts.
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How Does Formula 1 Fantasy Work?
If you're familiar with using DraftKings for NASCAR, this Formula 1 format is going to feel really, really different from what you're used to. It's a lot closer to the NFL single-game showdown slates than it is to anything on the NASCAR side.
So, here's how the scoring and format work. 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 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.
Now that we've gone over that, let's talk drivers. And bare with me, as this whole F1 fantasy thing is new to all of us.
Captain: Charles Leclerc ($16,800)
Starts 1st
I think we've got to be high on Ferrari this week. The team's won two races in a row, once from Leclerc and the other time from Carlos Sainz Jr.
With Sainz starting way back in 19th though, you can't really take the discount here and play him, and that makes me weary of doing what I would usually do, which is stack my captain pick with his constructor.
So, I'm trying something different this week. I could bet on Red Bull my stacking there, but I feel really good about Leclerc this week. He was faster than Verstappen in two of the three practice sessions and in all three rounds of qualifying. He's proven he can win races. He starts on pole and should be the favorite to lead early laps. And because his teammate starts so far back, he has a great shot at getting points for beating his teammate.
Constructor: Mercedes ($10,800)
I could take Red Bull as my constructor, but I think if I'm betting on Leclerc to be the best driver, it seems a little counterintuitive to bet on Red Bull as the constructor, right? If Red Bull wins this race, then I would have wanted Verstappen as my captain, so by not having him in that role, I'm...confusing myself.
But no, I think this logic makes some sense. If I'm fading Verstappen and saying "Leclerc is my captain," I should go full anti-Red Bull and fade them too.
Which leads us to my constructor pick of Mercedes. Carlos Sainz starts too far back for me to trust Ferrari as my constructor, but Mercedes has a driver starting fourth and sixth. Only Red Bull and McClaren also have two drivers starting in the top 10.
George Russell ($8,400)
Starts 6th
If Lewis Hamilton was a little cheaper, I'd play him, but instead I'm grabbing his teammate George Russell. Hamilton has been faster lately, but Russell has still been the better Mercedes driver overall, with an average finish of 5.3 to Hamilton's 5.6.
But really, my advice here is to play one Mercedes driver to go along with using Mercedes as your constructor. Hamilton makes lineup building more difficult but he has the higher upside, whereas Russell also a little bit more place differential upside and has been more consistent this season. I don't think either is a bad pick. I just took Russell for lineup building purposes.
Pierre Gasly ($6,200)
Starts 14th
Gasly has struggled over the last three races, finishing no better than 14th.
But Gasly has shown speed this weekend. He was fifth in the first practice and seventh in the second practice. There's some place differential at play for Gasly on Sunday, especially of the +3 or +5 positions variety.
Sebastian Vettel ($5,000)
Starts 12th
Like Gasly, Vettel is someone who starts just outside of the top 10 and has the upside to get up inside there and score some points.
Vettel has finished in the top 10 four times in his nine starts this season, but two of the races where he didn't featured him crashing out.
Vettel was all over the place in practice, but he was pretty quick in the first round of qualifying before just not really picking up any time in the second round.
Mick Schumacher ($3,800)
Starts 17th
Lot of ground for the Haas cars to make up in this one, but the team has shown speed lately. And with Schumacher starting a handful of spots above Kevin Magnussen, I'm giving him the edge out of the two cars in the battle to see which one finishes ahead of the other.
Schumacher has been on a hot streak, finishing in the points in each of the last two races. It might be a lot to ask for him to get there on Sunday, but if his speed materializes like it has in the other recent races, he should at least be in contention for place differential points. And hey...if things get weird on Sunday or there's a few crashes up toward the front, Schumacher is someone who could wind up benefitting greatly from that and coaxing this car into another points run.
