Warren Kosoy 
Welcome to the 6th edition of Formula 1 Race Week: Spain, May 2022. Round 6 of the championship runs at the familiar Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where the teams conduct pre-season testing. Hence this is where teams bring upgrades to the car, this week being no different.
Every team has come out with changes to their individual car, but as the saying goes “the more things change, the more things stay the same” Ferrari is fast in the corners, Red Bull is fast in the straights, then there are 8 other teams. I joke, but these two teams are still the class of the field.
This circuit tends to suit the corners more. However, If the Ferraris overwork their tires I think Max takes this win in his lead Red Bull with the Ferrari’s of Sainz and Leclerc finishing on the podium.
Formula 1 DFS: Top Captain Options
Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, and Carlos Sainz are atop the list for priority. With Carlos a distant 3rd for my priority to get into my DK lines at the Captain Spot.
Max Verstappen $17,400 starting p2
Charles Leclerc $16,800 starting on pole
Carlos Sainz $15,000 p3, a home race for him and Fernando Alonso
Low owned captain DFS options
George Russell, $13,200/$8800 I am going to have a lot of Russell, Hamilton, and Mercedes in my lines this week as the Ferraris have shown tire issues on the long runs. The Red Bull and Mercedes seem to be smoother on their tires. Adding that to the newfound Mercedes improvement, I can see a way for them to confirm a top 5 position, maybe contending for a podium as well.
While George seems to have his teammate beat on short, one-lap speed runs, Lewis Hamilton $13,800/$9200 has the advantage in the long run, heavy fuel runs. Mercedes has nothing to lose, I can see them going for a 1 stop “long” strategy. I do like their chances to shake up the top spots this weekend.
Formula 1 DFS: Captain options summary
For DraftKings purposes, keep in mind the 5 points for defeating your teammate as the difference between a 1st place takedown in your contests and a 2nd place finish can be as little as 4 points.
Formula 1: DFS Mid Tier options
The Alpines $5000 spent practice 1 and 2 looking like a top 5 team, then fell apart in qualifying with Fernando Alonso, $6000 in p17, and Esteban Ocon $6600 in p12. Alonso found traffic in Q1 which hampered his chances to get out of Q1, and Ocon had out lap issues of overheating the tires.
Alpha Tauri’s $3600. Pierre Gasly $5600 ran into issues in FP3 which really hurt his overall speed during the qualifying sessions. Both he and teammate Yuki Tsunoda $4600 looked good based on Friday so I am not opposed to using both team drivers and constructors. I would have Alonso over Ocon, and Gasly over Tsunoda.
Valterri Bottas $7600 had a horrible weekend going into qualifying, not turning any laps at all, but qualified p7. Very reminiscent of Allmendinger heading into the Xfinity race earlier today, where he did not have much prep, but still did well behind the wheel. His teammate Zhou Guanyu $3200 qualified in p15. Considering these Alfa’s replicate the performance of their Ferrari engine suppliers, the Alfa Romeo $4000 is in strong contention for the constructor’s option.
McLaren has looked lost this weekend, I hesitate to use them.
Formula 1: DFS Cheap 5 points options
Aston Martin
Sebastian Vettel $3400 and Lance Stroll $3600. The Aston has found themselves in a bit of controversy this weekend, their updates make the car look almost identical to the Red Bull. However, their pace is still that of the Aston Martin, after qualifying in p16 and p18 respectively.
Alex Albon $4000 is always a good cheap 5 points option. Albon has been getting the most out of his Williams, and his teammate is not nearly as good.
Formula 1: DFS Constructor options
- Ferrari $11,400. If Sainz and Leclerc can stay in the top 3, the Ferrari makes for a hell of a play.
- Mercedes $9000, their race pace always keeps them in the fight.
- Alpine $5000, I have to believe they went the wrong way for set up and are going to go long in the race to maximize points.
- Haas $3800, I think they are set up for qualifying, but if they can stay or gain positions, they would make for a good scoring salary relief option.
- Alfa Romeo $4000, I’ll have a few shares
Formula 1: Race Week Spain DFS overall strategy
Spain should be straightforward with the Ferrari’s running away on softer tires until those tires start to fall apart. Which would play right into Max’s hand. The Mercedes could be very lively this weekend, so I won’t be surprised if they are in the top 3.
After that, these teams are all over the place. Looking at Zhou, Bottas, and Alfa is applicable. Haas might have a true top 10 car on their hands and using these options as a punt play makes sense.
If you have any questions or want to chop it up, hit me in the discord @tcuz86. As Always it’s my pleasure to bring you Formula 1 DFS: Race Week and I look forward to seeing take-down winning lineups in the chat.
