2025 Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo - F1 Fantasy Race Preview, Strategy and Analysis

Euan Leith's preview of the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix for F1 Fantasy includes weather updates, differentials for your squads, and predictions for qualifying and the race.

Happy Monaco Grand Prix, RotoBallers! It's the crown jewel of Formula 1, and one of the most spectacular weekends in the sport. Saturday's qualifying is one of the best of the season, and Sunday has a strategy switch-up that should cause some intrigue.

The deadline for the Monaco Grand Prix in F1 Fantasy is Saturday, May 24, at 10 a.m. EDT, when Qualifying starts. Also, check out the rest of our excellent DFS racing coverage to get you through every NASCAR and Formula 1 race.

Want 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.

Join our 2025 F1 Fantasy League

That's right! We are putting our reputations on the line and creating an F1 Fantasy League for the 2025 season. If you go to the Leagues tab on the F1 Fantasy home page, you'll find our league in the Featured Leagues tab. Simply click 'Join League' and you will be set for 2025.

We've also got this shiny banner to stand out! Use code P1JOTPHDW09 to join the 2025 league!

Previous Monaco Grand Prix Winners

• 2024: Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
• 2023: Max Verstappen, Red Bull
• 2022: Sergio Perez, Red Bull
• 2021: Max Verstappen, Red Bull
• 2019: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

*2020 Monaco Grand Prix was not held due to COVID-19 pandemic

Monaco Grand Prix Schedule

Friday, May 23

• Practice 1: 7:30 a.m. EDT
• Practice 2: 11:00 a.m. EDT

Saturday, May 24

• Practice 3: 6:30 a.m. EDT
• Qualifying: 10:00 a.m. EDT (***F1 Fantasy lineup lock***)

Sunday, May 25

• Race: 9:00 a.m. EDT

Monaco Grand Prix Weather

Monaco Grand Prix Predictions

Qualifying

1. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
2. George Russell, Mercedes
3. Lando Norris, McLaren

Race

1. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
2. Lando Norris, McLaren
3. George Russell, Mercedes

Mandatory Two-Stop

The Monaco Grand Prix has recently been a bit processional. The current set of cars is a little too big for the streets of Monte Carlo, making overtaking incredibly difficult. Of the 24 tracks on the 2025 calendar, Monaco ranks 24th for average overtakes over the last three seasons.

In an attempt to spice up Sunday's race (Saturday's qualifying is still top tier), the FIA and Formula 1 has made it mandatory for every driver to use three sets of tires during the main race. Effectively, this means that every driver must stop twice during the race.

Pirelli, F1's tire supplier, has brought the three softest compounds to Monaco with the C4, C5, and C6. The C6 tyre debuted at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix last weekend and received mixed reviews.

Unfortunately, we probably won't know what the results of this new two-stop rule will have on F1 Fantasy until after Sunday's race. Still, it's something all F1 Fantasy strategists should know heading into the weekend.

Precision, glamour, heritage. The #MonacoGP is more than just a race — it's the purest expression of @F1.

Discover what makes Monte Carlo truly unique from a tyre point of view.

👉 https://t.co/cJCnwjQy6P#Pirelli #Fit4F1 pic.twitter.com/gW5s15oBtn

— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) May 20, 2025

Red Bull Re-emerges

Max Verstappen had an epic weekend in Imola. After qualifying second, the four-time World Champion pulled off one of the best turn-one overtakes in recent memory.

WATCH THE RACE START 👀

Absolute class from Max Verstappen 💪#F1 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/rld4niA0lm

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 18, 2025

Red Bull brought its first batch of updates to the 2025 car in Italy, and it went according to plan. Verstappen won the race and pushed himself right back into the Championship mix. Traditionally, Imola is a stronghold for the Bulls, and it maintained its dominance on Sunday.

For F1 Fantasy, this shook up the template as most managers have been running a McLaren-Mercedes combination as their constructors. We will have to wait for Friday's practice times, but Red Bull could be back on the menu after an early-season swoon due to its second-driver problems with Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda.

F1 Fantasy Chip Strategy

Limitless

Over the last three seasons, Circuit de Monaco has had the fewest overtakes per race on the F1 calendar. This creates an opportunity for managers with their Limitless chip to have a massive delta over non-Limitless managers.

The key is to nail the five best drivers and the two best constructors. If I were building a Limitless squad before Free Practice, I would run triple McLaren (Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, constructor) with Verstappen, George Russell, Charles Leclerc, and Red Bull as the second constructor.

No Negative

There are six rookies on the F1 grid in 2025. While they've had some experience around Monaco, it's a whole different ball game when you hop in an F1 car. We saw how brutal this could be in Australia for the first race of the campaign with four of the six rookies retiring from the race, and another, Oliver Bearman, finishing last.

If you are worried about another instance of rookie DNF roulette, the No Negative chip is a fine play. Personally, I'm still saving it for (literally) another rainy day.

Final Fix

If a driver grabs pole position on Saturday, it's, traditionally, quite challenging for them not to win Sunday's race. That's where the Final Fix chip comes into play. If one of your drivers underperforms in qualifying, you can activate the chip, bring in a different driver (within your cost cap), and swap them out for the main race.

📊 4.8 or 6.4

🪄Those are the magic numbers in F1 Fantasy for the Monaco GP.

💰 That's how much cost cap you'll need to leave yourself to use the Final Fix chip and upgrade Oscar Piastri to either Max Verstappen or Lando Norris.

— Euan Leith (@F1FantasyEuan) May 21, 2025

F1 Fantasy Drivers to Target and Avoid

Drivers to Target (A Tier, >$19.0m)

• Lando Norris, McLaren
• Max Verstappen, Red Bull
• Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Drivers to Avoid (A Tier, >$19.0m)

• Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
• Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Drivers to Target (B Tier, <$19.0m)

• Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull
• Alex Albon, Williams
• Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
• Pierre Gasly, Alpine
• Nico Hulkenberg, Kick Sauber

Drivers to Avoid (B Tier, <$19.0m)

• Esteban Ocon, Haas
• Oliver Bearman, Haas
• Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
• Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

More DFS Lineup Picks and Analysis