Warren Kosoy 
Welcome to the 8th edition of Formula 1 Race Week: Baku, Azerbaijan, June 2022.
Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan sits on the western bank of the Caspian Sea. Baku is a mix of world history and new age construction. There’s a freaking on the circuit. A castle. That’s awesome. Since the Grand Prix takes place on the city streets the course integrates tight twisty bits in the castle section and ends with a very long straight. Seeing pictures of the city streets on a normal day and comparing that to race day is pretty awesome.
The 3.7-mile circuit starts adjacent to Azadliq Square, then loops around the parliament building before heading west along .62 mile straight to the Palace and Maiden Tower. Here, the track has a narrow 25-foot uphill traversal and then circles the old city, before opening up onto a 1.4 mi stretch and then back to the start line. The circuit was projected to be the fastest in the world, with a top speed of close to 220 mph, and the second-longest circuit on the current F1 calendar behind Spa in Belgium
It’s a broken record. I know. But once again through practice and qualifying, the Red Bulls and Ferrari are just the class of the paddock. Get the drivers Red Bull $11,400: Max Verstappen $16,500, Sergio Perez $15,300 and Ferrari’s $10,900, Charles Leclerc $17,100 and Carlos Sainz $14,700 into your line ups.
Keep in mind, that pole and top starting position tend to not equivalate to wins here at Baku. Last year Max was comfortably in the lead and the side walls of these tires failed and he crashed out of the race in dramatic fashion.
Because of this, we can’t overlook the secondary options for our DraftKings lineups. Jamming them as guys who fit the build might not be the best strategy. Instead, I want to look into practice speeds and qualifying to make my secondary driver options.
Let’s do that and win some damn money.
Formula 1: DFS Top Captain Options
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari $17,100
Max Verstappen, Red Bull $16,500
Sergio Perez, Red Bull $15,300
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari $14,700
Once again these guys are the class of the field. I would stress using Charles and Max in your DraftKings Formula 1 DFS lineups, as they are the top drivers in the top teams. However, Sergio Perez has been awesome in the sister Red Bull. He is coming off a win in Monaco and arguably should have won in Spain if it wasn’t for team orders to let Max go ahead of him.
Formula 1: DFS Mid Tier options
This is where the money will be made. For this Formula 1: Race Week Baku article, this section will be of top importance.
Mercedes
If anything were to happen to the top teams and drivers, the next best team is Mercedes at $9400. Featuring Lewis Hamilton $9200 and George Russell $8600. For your Formula 1 DFS lineups they would be good for finishing points, so picking one in a GPP lineup or two wouldn’t be a bad choice.
Alpha Tauri $4100
Pierre Gasly $5200 and Yuki Tsunoda $4600. The Alpha Tauri has been a top 5 car all weekend in practice and qualified damn well P6 and P8. Sandwiched between the Mercedes can always get dicey though. I am starting to think that the Alpha Tauri is set up for qualifying though, as every time they look good on Saturday, they throw it away on Sunday. For my DK lineups, I will still have both drivers and the constructor position filled with the Red Bull “junior” team.
Alpine
Fernando Alonso $6800 and Esteban Ocon $6400. As Alpha is set up for Saturday, Alpine shines on Sunday. The Alpine has been the other top 5 constructor throughout the weekend. The Alpine $5000 will be featured in my GPP and Cash Game DFS lineups.
Formula 1: DFS Other options
Valtteri Bottas $7400 and Kevin Magnussen $5800 have been staples in the top 10 all year thus far. Which makes their struggles this weekend very odd. Especially Valtteri. The dude has run more laps here in Baku than anyone else entering this weekend. These two cars have Ferrari engines though, and throughout the 2022 season, the Ferrari engine is fantastic in the low-speed corners. Not so much on the straights. Baku’s lap finishes on a very long straight, so maybe they are being hampered by this.
Formula 1: DFS Value 5-point options
Looking below the DraftKings price tag of $5000, there are a few options for the cheap 5 points.
Yuki had already been talked about, but at $4200 Sebastian Vettel stands out. Sebastian is a veteran in the sport and should be able to take advantage of his P9 grid position. Come to think about it, if Vettel can stay in his position he could be one of the best value options of the season. I imagine he will be very popular for ownership on DK.
Alex Albon $3800 is a better wheelman than his teammate Latifi. Being in the worst car on the grid doesn’t help either, but as a last guy in, Albon is fine.
DFS Constructor options
- Ferrari $10,900
- Red Bull $11,400 Once again Ferrari and Red Bull are the cream of the crop. If you can fit in at least one top driver and their corresponding team. Do it.
- Alpha Tauri $4100 if the Alpha’s stay in position, they are primed for a good value constructor option.
- Alpine, $5000 Alpine focus on themselves which is the way to do it when you are in the mid-tier pack. For the price, they are hard to pass up on DraftKings.
Race Week Baku DFS overall strategy
For our purposes, this race tends to lead to chaos. It’s a street circuit and weird stuff happens on street circuits. Ask Lewis Hamilton and his Brake Magic. I would not do too many big tournaments this weekend and stick to single entry tournaments, 3 max, and cash games. Next week in Canada is the big Formula 1 DFS DraftKings tournaments, like the $444 Ambassador Tournament so I will be holding onto my monies for next weekend’s contests.
If you have questions please feel free to hit me up in discord @tcuz86. Have fun and thanks for reading Formula 1: Race Week Baku June 2022.
