Team Breakdowns

Red Bull

Max Verstappen ($15,800) won his 3rd driver’s championship earlier and is set to dominate this Qatar GP from pole position. Sergio Perez ($10,000) starts in P13, and after the Sprint Shootout race in which he got caught up in an accident, it’s tough to see him making his way through this field. Red Bull Racing ($14,500) feels like a thin play, so I would go heavy on Verstappen.

McLaren

Have yourself a weekend Oscar Piastri ($8800), starting in P6 after crossing the qualifying line 3rd (exceeding track limits penalty pushed him back) Oscar won the Sprint Shootout and is piloting a very lively McLaren. I like his chances to finish on the podium. Lando Norris ($9400) really needs to beat his teammate to make value, which might be a tough ask. The McLarens ($9300) perform very well on the hard compound tyre which is the preferred racing tyre at the Qatar race track. Have exposure in GPPS and Single entries.

Mercedes

George Russell ($8200) is set to finish on the podium tomorrow as he qualified in P2 and raced into the lead in the Sprint Shootout. He has a great chance of being a top DFS play tomorrow, do keep in mind though, he comes with a ton of risk and the negative can ruin a DFS day. Lewis Hamilton ($9200) starts in P3 and like George can easily finish on the podium.  Have exposure to Mercedes ($8800) in GPPs.

Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso ($6800) continues to dominate teammate Lance Stroll ($5600) but has not sniffed a podium in 4 races. A sprinkle-worthy candidate in GPPs for volatility purposes, outside of that not too much for me.

Ferrari

Ferrari seems to be dealing with some technical issues as they have had some gremlins in their car’s system. At their prices you need them to finish on the podium and with Charles Leclerc ($8600) starting in P5 he probably has the best chance of it. Ferrari ($8300) has not produced a double podium finish in over 5 races and is unlikely to lead laps here in the desert.

Alfa Romeo

There’s nothing between Zhou ($3400) or Bottas ($4000) that makes one a priority over the other. Mix and match if playing multiple lineups, but avoid the situation in smaller tournaments.

Alpine

Being the kings of the midfield, it’s easy to see Alpine finishing 9th and 10th, which wouldn’t be so bad for our DFS lineups. I like having exposure to both as Alpine can randomly suck, but I will always give the nod to Pierre Gasly ($5800) if forced to pick one. If the drivers finish in the top 10, that’s a decent DFS play for the ($3700) Alpine team.

Williams

The Mercedes-powered cars tend to take to the Qatar circuit well, but not so much for the Williams Mercedes race team. Albon ($4800) starts in P14 but if the Sprint race was any indicator, he’ll fall down the running order. At min price, Logan Sargent ($3000) can get a negative so tread lightly.

Alpha Tauri

Yuki Tsunoda ($4600) is a boom/bust play, you might want to utilize him as a price point player that you rotate through as he, nor teammate Liam Lawson are true priorities in single entries, 3 max, or cash games. One caveat to Liam Lawson ($4200) however is that he starts in P18 and can gain positions if the race falls his way.

Haas

If you find yourself in this price range in GPPs the best thing to do is to have a sprinkle of both Kevin Magnussen ($3200) and Niko Hulkenberg ($3800), very limited, not in the same lineup, as all you’re trying to do is catch the 5 beat teammate and 1 finish point.

Advice:

My favorite plays: Oscar Piastri, either Mercedes’ or one of the Alpine drivers to try to maximize upside. Max should be in the majority of your lineups.

As always if you have any questions get at me in discord @tcuz86