Formula 1: Race Week Italian Grand Prix, September 2022

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Welcome to the 16th edition of Formula 1 Race Week: Italian Grand Prix, September 2022.

Imola, the Temple of Speed, in northern Bologna, Italy plays host to this week’s race. Ferrari wants this win as they celebrate 75 years in the sport; in front of their faithful Tifosi fans. With multiple divers on the grid facing penalties, the starting grid is as good as Ferrari could hope for.

With grid penalties, driver changes, and more randomness let me help break down the grid starting with…

Formula 1: DFS Top Captain Options

Max Verstappen, Red Bull, $18,300

Max starts P7 after penalties have been assessed. He should make short work of all the runners in front of him not named Charles Leclerc.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, $16,500

With the crowd and Ferrari tradition behind him, Charles is leading the pack when the lights go out on Sunday. There are talks that the Ferrari engine is being turned up for maximum power. As a result, reliability might be an issue. Therefore I would caution Charles backers to tread lightly.

I am having a hard time finding other Captain options as the grid is really screwy. We have 2 Williams in the top 10, don’t tell me this grid is not weird.

Formula 1: DFS Mid Tier options

Lando Norris, McLaren $7800

Lando would be the next driver to be truly a captain option. However, I do not have the confidence in McLaren to put him there. Due to this fact, I think McLaren has the potential for being the best value for the constructor. Lando has the best opportunity to score the 3rd or 4th most maximum DraftKings points.

George Russell, Mercedes, $9800

George starts right behind Charles in P2. I would have George over Lando if the Mercedes hasn’t been one of the slowest cars all weekend. George was slower than teammate Lewis Hamilton but was promoted four grid spots due to penalties. Therefore, I think the best George Russell’s Mercedes can hope for is a P3 finish.

Pierre Gasly, Alphatauri, $6200

Pierre is an interesting case study this weekend. I think he is a gamble in the truest sense of the word. The Alphatauri (including Yuki’s) has been a top 3 car in speed this weekend. A couple of factors are working against Pierre, the McLarens in front of him, and the drivers behind him, mainly Max. If Pierre can overtake Danny Ricciardo, I can see Pierre finishing as high as p4. With the cars behind him, he could finish on the cusp or just outside the points. Due to his volatility, I will have a sprinkle of Pierre in my DK lineups.

Fernando Alonso, Alpine, $7200

Alonso was pushed up to start in p6. If the Alpine knows one thing to do is to score points. Consequently, I will have some Fernando Alonso in my lineups.

Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon, and Lewis Hamilton all incurred grid penalties. The only one that was not in Q3 was Esteban Ocon. The other 3 drivers are starting in grid positions that can put them in a position to overtake cars. Especially Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez. As a result, I don’t see these 4 drivers beating their respective teammates; however, I can see them overtaking positions and scoring top 10 finishing points.

Formula 1: DFS Other options

Zhou Guanyu $3800 Alfa Romeo

Alfa was Alpha in Free practice 2. The Ferrari-powered machine was at the top of the speed charts. If Zhou can finish in the points, he would be amazing value.

Formula 1: DFS Value 5-point options

Nick de Vries $3400. Nick replaces Alex Albon this weekend who has appendicitis. Nick almost made it into Q3 but made a mistake that cost him his lap. Nick finds himself in a very interesting position this weekend. He’s piloting a Williams that has shown top straight line speed all weekend and starts ahead of his teammate. In short, I will have my shares of de Vries in DK.

DFS Constructor options

• Red Bull, $12,100 even though they are down on the starting grid, I could see a world where the Red Bulls end up P1 and P2.
• Ferrari, $11,100 fingers crossed the Ferrari engine holds up, and the Ferrari brass don’t screw up and send the Tifosi home mad. If you like Ferrari, pair it with Charles and go from there.
• McLaren, $5100 Starting at the sharp end of the grid and a quick car to boot, I like the McLaren as a value constructor this weekend. 
• Alphatarui, $3400 I can not over look how quick the Honda…errr, RedBull Powertrain engines are this weekend. Even with Yuki starting dead last, In my sprinkle of Pierre line up, I will use Alphatauri and see if I can put the out of position drivers in there as well. 

Race Week Italian Grand Prix DFS overall strategy

Penalties really shook this grid up. I will be leaning more on the teams that have shown outright speed as overtaking can be difficult around Monza. I think the speedy teams will be able to overtake on track or undercut their competitors and get track position in the pits.

If you have questions please feel free to hit me up in discord @tcuz86, or on Twitter @tcuz86. Have fun and thanks for reading Formula 1: Race Week Italian Grand Prix, September 2022.