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Justin Carter's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the 2025 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix. Read our daily fantasy F1 advice and sleepers analysis.
Formula 1 heads to Monaco this weekend for one of the most prestigious races in the world. It also happens to be one of the most predictable. There's nowhere on the schedule where qualifying matters more. Last year, the top 10 drivers all finished in the exact spot that they started the race in.
That likely won't be the case this year, as F1 has decreed that teams must make two pit stops, offering more chances for the field to get a little shook up. Still, DFS players shouldn't go looking for place differential options this weekend.
Below, you will find our Formula 1 DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the Monaco Grand Prix on 5/25/25, with the slate locking at 9:00 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: Isack Hadjar ($7.2K)
Starts Sixth
There are two ways you could go here. You spend a lot of money to captain Lando Norris or Charles Leclerc under the belief that one of them will almost certainly win this race, which isn't a bad move at all.
But I suggest going with a value captain because it allows you to then configure your lineup in a way where you could, for example, get a McLaren driver, a Ferrari driver, and a Ferrari constructor pick all in the lineup. Captaining Norris or Leclerc puts you at a disadvantage in one sense because you'd need to pay down for Williams (or even Racing Bulls, if you're really feeling risky) as your play there.
Isack Hadjar's P6 is his best qualifying result so far in F1...
The rookie has been making a statement this season 👏 pic.twitter.com/A7JcHKIZzR
— Autosport (@autosport) May 24, 2025
For a value captain, I really like Isack Hadjar. He consistently outperforms teammate Liam Lawson. Even though Lawson also starts in the top 10 this week, the nature of Monaco suggests that he shouldn't threaten Hadjar.
And of the potential value options that start in the top 10, Hadjar feels the least fluky. Lawson plus Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso all feel more likely to fall out of the top 10 this week. We have two Mercedes and one Williams car starting outside the top 10 who could make some moves through the field, and those are the drivers most likely to fall out in that scenario.
Constructor: Ferrari ($10.0K)
If you go with a value captain, then there's really only two options for constructor: McLaren and Ferrari.
The thing is, McLaren will cost you $5.0K more, which is a lot. Ferrari drivers start second and third and while McLaren has been the far better team this season, the difficulty of completing passes here likely means that one of these teams will finish with a double podium.
McLaren is more likely to be that team, but I'll willingly take on the risk here at $5.0K less that Lewis Hamilton can find a way around Oscar Piastri at some point over the course of the race.
Lando Norris ($12.4K)
Starts First
Alright, here's where things get really obvious.
Being on the pole is a huge advantage in Monaco. The last time the winner of this race didn't start in one of the first three spots on the grid was all the way back in 1996.
Last year, Charles Leclerc had the pole and used it as a springboard to a dominant performance, leading all 78 laps and beating Oscar Piastri by 7.152 seconds.
Lando Norris is on pole this year, starting there beside Leclerc, and it would be a bit of a shock to see anything other than those two finish one-two in some order. (There is a scenario I can see where Norris finishes third if Leclerc wins and McLaren lets Piastri race Norris, but that's pretty far toward the edge of scenarios that actually impact my decision making.)
Charles Leclerc ($10.2K)
Starts Second
As mentioned above, Charles Leclerc dominated this race last year. If he can get the lead from polesitter Lando Norris, he'll have an opportunity to dominate it again in 2025.
THAT’S THE FRONT ROW!!!
P2 for @Charles_Leclerc!! 👏 pic.twitter.com/0NVosPvp4a
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) May 24, 2025
Will it happen? Who knows, but it's worth mentioning that Leclerc was the fastest driver in all three practice sessions before just barely missing out on the pole.
Norris is the favorite simply because he should have the edge at the start, but Leclerc is a great bet to get a podium finish. Barring some strategy issue or a driver error, it's hard to see Leclerc losing more than one spot on Sunday.
Alexander Albon ($6.4K)
Starts 10th
Alexander Albon is the last driver to start in the top 10, but he also feels relatively likely to move up in this field.
Albon has finished in the points in all but one race this season and enters this weekend coming off back-to-back fifth-place finishes. He has some cars in front of him that he's definitely faster than in a vacuum, including Esteban Ocon and Liam Lawson.
If passing happens this year in the top 10, Albon is very likely to be the biggest beneficiary of that. He was faster in all three practice sessions than he was in qualifying, and he was faster than the four cars in front of him in Q1 and Q2 before he just couldn't coax out those few needed tenths in Q3.
Esteban Ocon ($3.8K)
Starts Eighth
I don't know if Esteban Ocon has the car to stick in the top 10 on Sunday, but teammate Ollie Bearman's grid penalty, combined with the nature of this track, virtually locks Ocon in for the "defeated teammate" points if he can just run a clean race.
LETS GOOOOO 🔥 proud of that one ~ we left it all out there today. 💪🏼 Mega job team!! @HaasF1Team pic.twitter.com/JyKmfzkjDd
— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) May 24, 2025
It's fair to be concerned about Ocon losing spots, considering he was near the bottom of the order in all three practice sessions, but there's only so many spots you can lose at Monaco. Ocon could lose three, but that would require the two Mercedes drivers who start 14th and 15th to make a pretty heroic run through the field.
More than likely, I see him falling back to ninth when Alexander Albon gets past him and then maybe to 10th if Carlos Sainz Jr. runs a strong race.
But for real, though — you should not expect a lot of movement on Sunday. Monaco feels like a glorified parade at times. The pit rules could change that just a bit, but track position is just so important here. Even if Ocon's speed all vanishes, it's going to be tough for drivers to get past him.
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: Alexander Albon
- Haas: Esteban Ocon
- Sauber: Nico Hulkenberg
- Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso
- Alpine: Pierre Gasly
Last race's record: 5-5
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.
