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Justin Carter's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the 2025 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix. Read our daily fantasy F1 advice and sleepers analysis.
Formula 1 is back in the United States this weekend for the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. This is a Sprint weekend, with Max Verstappen winning Saturday's Sprint race.
Heading into this race, Verstappen continues to move closer to championship contention. He earned six points over points leader Oscar Piastri last race in Singapore, and with both McLarens failing to finish Saturday's Sprint, Verstappen already earned an extra eight points over the title leader this weekend.
Below, you will find our Formula 1 DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the United States Grand Prix on 10/19/25, with the slate locking at 3:00 p.m. EDT. If you want to chat about F1, you can find me on X at @juscarts, or over on Bluesky.
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Captain: Ollie Bearman ($6.3K)
Starts Eighth
Ollie Bearman has been on a really nice run lately, to the point where I actually feel pretty good about using him as a value Captain play in the United States Grand Prix.
Coming into this race, Bearman has scored points in two of the last four races, and he's finished 12th or better in eight of the last nine races. The only finish in that span outside of the top 12 came via a mechanical failure in Hungary.
Also worth noting here: Bearman is 2-for-2 this season when it comes to scoring points when starting in the top 10. He'll begin Sunday's race in eighth, his best starting spot of the season.
Finally, Bearman starts nine spots ahead of teammate Esteban Ocon. That should mean that even if Bearman can't maintain his top 10 starting spot, he should at least earn fantasy managers points for finishing as the top driver on his team.
Constructor: Ferrari ($9.5K)
Ferrari is still in search of its first win this season. It probably won't come on Sunday, and honestly, it probably won't come at all, but Ferrari has a shot to have a strong run, as it's the only constructor with two drivers starting in the top five.
A great lap by @Charles_Leclerc pits him on the second row tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/SWiru0vz64
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) October 18, 2025
Entering this race, Ferrari has double points in three consecutive races and has earned at least 20 DFS points in two of the past three races. The team has only failed to record double points three times this season and averages a solid 22.8 DraftKings points per race.
Max Verstappen ($12.K)
Starts First
I'm really not sure where I stand at this point on the question of whether Verstappen can come back and win the title. The Sprint race on Saturday was a huge help for his cause, and he's been the hottest driver in the series as of late, finishing first or second in four consecutive races.
MAX VERSTAPPEN TAKES POLE AT COTA!! 💪🥇
An absolutely mighty lap secures the Red Bull driver the fastest time! 👏#F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/jzgRor0eZs
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 18, 2025
Additionally, Verstappen is really, really good when he's on the pole. He's won the past two times he started on pole, and overall this season has three wins and a second place in the six races where he started at the front of the field.
Entering this weekend, Verstappen has three wins at COTA and has finished on the podium in six consecutive starts at the track. Just once in his nine races here has Verstappen finished lower than fourth, which happened in 2016 when he suffered an engine failure
There's also the obvious fact that we saw these cars race already this weekend and it was Verstappen who came out ahead. Maybe you could argue that McLaren crashing out prevented us from seeing if those two drivers could have better race speed than Verstappen, but it's probably safe to say this is the best car this weekend.
Charles Leclerc ($10.0K)
Starts Third
If we're going to play Ferrari as our Constructor pick, we might as well double down and play one of their drivers as well, right?
Between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, I lean Leclerc. Obviously, the fact that he starts two spots ahead of Hamilton is something to consider here, but it's also worth noting that he's finished as the top Ferrari in five of the past six races.
It's been a down year for Ferrari, but Leclerc has been less impacted by that than Hamilton has been. Yes, Leclerc's average finish has fallen from 4.5 last year to 6.8 this year, but that's still ahead of Hamilton's 8.1, and Leclerc has five podiums while Hamilton has yet to record one.
Fernando Alonso ($6.0K)
Starts 10th
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have been closer than usual this season, and Stroll actually led Alonso in the point standings until Singapore, where Alonso scored six points and is now four points clear of Stroll.
That finish continues a recent trend of Alonso getting stronger. Alonso failed to score in the points in any of the first eight races of the season. Over the last 10 races, he's finished in the points seven times.
LAP 16/19
🟡 SAFETY CAR 🟡
Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon collide at Turn 1 - both drivers are out of the race 😱#F1Sprint #USGP pic.twitter.com/PUWBXFAX6X
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 18, 2025
Additionally, Alonso should be in line to finish as the top Aston Martin with relative ease, as he starts 10th, while Stroll will start last after a penalty following the Sprint race.
Nico Hulkenberg ($4.8K)
Starts 11th
Entering this race, rookie Gabriel Bortoleto has outperformed Nico Hulkenberg in four of the last five races, but this week looks decent for Hulkenberg, as he starts 11th while Bortoleto starts 16th.
That's...really the only argument here. He starts 11th, so there's a good shot he finishes as the top Sauber car, and if things get really weird, he can sneak into the points. His finishes have dropped a bit lately, but he still has five points finishes, including a surprise podium at Silverstone, this season.
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: 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.
