After experiencing the new of Las Vegas, it’s back to the familiar of Yas Marina and the Abu Dhabi GP. This will be the 14th race at the circuit and the season finale of the 2023 Red Bull domination. Until the Red Bulls are dethroned it is their race to lose, but the DFS lines are won and lost outside the top 10. Let’s get analytical and see who’s up for assisting us in our DraftKings lineups.

Team Breakdowns

Red Bull

Max Verstappen ($17,000) has won this race the last 3 races, doubtful that anything will change this year as Max starts from pole and is in amazing form.

Sergio Perez ($8400) starts in P9 and has had the oddest 3-race history here, a podium, a DNF, and a 15th place finish after starting the race from 4th. Thankfully his price point makes him a slight nonfactor as his only chance of truly maximizing DK points is if he beats Max, a steep uphill climb for Sergio.

Red Bull Racing ($14,200) is always in play, especially at a track they have won at handily.

McLaren

Lando Norris ($9400) likes it here as he has 3 top 10 finishes and 2 top 5 finishes over the last 3 races at the Yas Marina. Coming from a circuit that was never going to play into McLaren’s hands, Lando, Oscar, and McLaren should be in a much better position for top 10 finishes this weekend.

While Oscar Piastri ($8600) has never raced in F1 here at Yas Marina, the sister McLaren has had 2 top 10 finishes over the last 3 races here. Oscar starts in P3 and I can’t see him finishing on the podium, a top-10 finish is definitely a possibility, thus making Mclaren ($9200) a solid constructor option.

Mercedes

With 1/2 of the Ferrari garage compromised by Carlos Sainz crash in FP2, the opportunity for Mercedes to come in and maximize points for the second place in the constructor championship is wide open. Lewis Hamilton ($9800) starts from P11 while teammate George Russell ($7800) starts in P4. While George does have the better starting position Leiws has not finished outside the top 10 over the last 3 races and if he gains positions will earn extra fantasy points for our cause.

Mercedes ($9000) makes for a good contrarian sprinkle in GPPs.

Aston Martin

Aston Martin ($5000) is a team that I struggle to get right. They have improved over the last 2 races with Lance Stroll ($4800) having back to back 5th place finishes and teammate Fernando Alonso ($7400) with a podium and a top 10 finish over the last 3 races. At Abu Dhabi, the Aston has not had both cars in the top 10 historically, but that was with different drivers not named Stroll and once again the car coming back into form more recently. Stack Lance, starting in P13, with Aston for the same reason as the Sainz/Ferrari stack.

Ferrari

With an excessive amount of damage to Carlos Sainz’s ($8000) race car, teammate Charles Leclerc ($8800) looks like the Ferrari to back this weekend. Charles starts from P2, has 2 straight podium finishes, and has been improving his finishing position each race here at the circuit over the last 3 races, including a 3rd place finish last year.

I can not outright eliminate Carlos Sainz from contention and even a captain position as Carlos has had top 5 finishes here since 2020. I will try to stack Carlos with Ferrari ($8800) as once again Ferrari wont score maximum points unless Carlos Sainz gains places and finishes in the top 10, which he has a history of doing here in Abu Dhabi.

Alfa Romeo

Valtteri Bottas ($4000) starts P18 and just like his teammate Zhou ($3600) starts from P19. There is not much to differentiate between the two right now.

Alpine

Piere Gasly ($5200) starts from P10. Now Alpine has not had a double car finish in the top 10 over the last 3 events here, but its typically due to mechanical failure which the Alpine has shown an improvement in terms of reliability. Teammate Esteban Ocon ($5000) is definitely worthy of a sprinkle as they are the sharper version of Alfa Romeo.

Williams

The consistency of Logan Sargent ($3000) and Alex Albon ($4400) starting from P20 and P14 respectively is kind of amazing. Albon can sneak into the top 10 while Logan can’t hurt your lineups.

Alpha Tauri

While an Alpha Tauri ($3000) had finished in the top 10 in the last 3 races before Las Vegas, the AT had a race to forget in Las Vegas. Looking to rebound, Yuki Tsunoda ($3800) starts in P6 and without log run data, it’s tough to predict where he should be realistically. That’s why I compare him to teammate Daniel Ricciardo ($5400) who is starting in P15. I would tread lightly with Yuki starting so high up.

Haas

With Nico Hulkenberg ($3400) crashing out in FP2 and starting from P8, I have a sneaky suspicion that his racecar will be compromised in race trim. Considering Haas has not finished outside the bottom 15 here over the last 3 races, Hulkenberg is a strong fade candidate. Kevin Magnussen ($3000) starts in a more familiar position to the Haas here at Yas, damn near the bottom. A strong value play though.

Advice

What’s nice about this race is the grid is fairly used to it. Jam in the top 4, Max, the McLarens, and George as the winner of this race has come from the 2 front rows over the last 8 races. Yuki starting so high does worry me, so I will try to limit him. I like the Aston and Alpine for value constructors, but if you can find the salary Mercedes, McLaren, and Red Bull are the constructors I really want to get to.

I will have some further notes in the Discord so join me @tcuz86 and the WinDaily squad at windailysports.com