Welcome to the latest edition of Formula 1: Race Week Austrian Grand Prix. This race starts a 4 pack of races over the next 4 weeks. This race goes live at 9 am EST on ESPN. The short, 2-mile circuit has 3 straights and quick corners, a paradise for the Red Bulls and Ferrari. Since the race goes live early I wanted to do more of a notes-style breakdown for quicker reading. If you have any questions or want to chop up lineups, @tcuz86 in Discord. But for now, let’s go alphabetically through the grid.
Team Breakdowns
Alpine
Don’t play both together, did not show anything in practice, Ocon ($6600) qualified P12 while Gasly ($5800) qualified P9. Both feel like neutral plays, neither a priority.
Aston Martin
I tend to avoid playing both Aston together, but Aston looks up to the task, and Lance Stroll is cheap. Fernando Alonso ($10,400) and Lance Stroll ($6400) start P7 and P6 respectively. The guys behind them don’t worry me too much outside of George Russell and Sergio Perez. Aston brought updates to their car last race and definitely have taken a step forward.
Alfa Romeo
Outside of the last guys in, I really don’t want anything to do with Alfa. Zhou Guanyu ($3800) was in the top 10 during practice but sank like a rock in qualifying and the sprint race. He is inexpensive, however, and considering how much I want to play the top-priced guys we are going to need the value plays.
Alpha Tauri
Rinse and repeat for Alpha. Both look beta (sorry I had to) Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda ($5200) feels like a premium for 5 beat teammate points, he has shown an ability on Sundays so I’m not so quick to throw him out for potential. Nyck De Vries ($3200) is just like Zhou in that he’s inexpensive and we will need value to load up on the top options.
Ferrari
The Austrian GP is held in Spielberg, Austria, and is commonly known as the Red Bull Ring. It is the home of Red Bull Racing, but it’s a track that always comes easily for Ferrari. Charles Leclerc ($8200) was less than .003 seconds off the pole from Max; both Ferraris performed well during the sprint race and have qualified P2 and P3 for Carlos Sainz ($7400). I like Ferrari ($8800) paired with one of their drivers.
Haas
The issue with Haas($3400) is they qualify well and fall apart in the race. The reason this happens is that Haas is really good at getting their tyres up to temperature, but they can’t regulate that temperature over the race, overcooking them. Nico Hulkenberg ($4800) looks like a prime candidate for negative fantasy points, however, Kevin Magnussen ($3600) might be able to pay off his salary if his teammate drops down, making him a decent GPP play.
McLaren
Upgrades people, upgrades! For at least one car anyway. Lando Norris ($6000) loves this circuit, he has 2 top 3 qualifying results and 2 podiums. Starting in P4 Lando should do just fine here. Oscar Piastri ($4200), not so much. I might sprinkle him in, but he starts kind of high and he needs to beat his teammate to be a good play.
Mercedes
The Mercs look okay. George Russell ($8000) starts P11 and always finds himself in the top 8, so I can see him gaining positions up to his teammate in P5. Lewis Hamilton ($10,200) could drop a couple of spots to the ever-improving Aston Martins.
Red Bull
The rocket ships always stand alone. Max ($15,000) starts P1 and had a 21-second lead on a track where the average lap time is 1 minute 4 seconds in the wet. It would be kind of fun to see a car lap all the way to P2, Max could do it. Sergio Perez ($11,000) is an interesting play, piloting the sister rocketship from P15 there is no reason Sergio couldn’t make up 14 spots. Once again, until further notice, it’s Red Bull ($14,000) rocketship racing and everyone else.
Williams
Formula 1 DFS is different, 1 point for classification can win you a contest. 1.5 points could win you a GPP. Being the bare minimum Logan Sargent ($3000) just needs to classify to help a GPP lineup, an American in my F1 lines…eagle scream (it’s actually a hawk), fireworks, baseball, Fourth of July…yea I’ll have him. Alex Albon ($4400) worries me because he starts a little too high. In P10 with Sergio, George, and Ocon behind him, there’s a potential he drops 3 spots. As long as he beats his teammate though the negative points are nerfed making Alex still a worthy play.
If you have any questions or if you’d like to talk strategy @tcuz86 in Discord.
