The Formula 1 Americas tour finishes this week in Sao Paulo, Brazil at the Interlagos race track. For the seasoned F1, this would be the typical race finale for the season as we have seen this track king champions and take certain victory away in one turn. This race, however, will get a jam-packed sports weekend kicked off, so join me as I guide you through this week’s edition of Formula 1 Race Week: Sao Paulo Gran Prix.
Team Breakdowns
Red Bull
Max Verstappen ($16,400) over Sergio Perez ($9000) and find a way to play Red Bull in the constructor position.
Honestly what else needs to be said? If you follow F1 or just read the tracker on ESPN as you’re watching SportsCenter, you see “Max Verstappen wins Formula 1 Race” more times than not this year. The Red Bull is the class of the field and at Interlagos that should more than continue.
McLaren
Oscar Piastri’s ($8200) reign of flex has pretty much dried up. The last few races have shown Lando Norris ($9400) is the better McLaren wheelman and here at Interlagos, I doubt that will be different. McLaren ($9000) is in no-man land in terms of Fp/$ and they need a double podium finish to pay off, so find the salary to get to Red Bull or drop-down where you can.
Mercedes
In a straight line the Mercedes ($9800) is the slowest of the top-tier cars. The Merc’s need things to fall their way to win, so embrace the risk if you’d like. I will be trying to fit Max and Red Bull in most of my lineups which will probably push all things Mercedes to the side for me this weekend. I do like George Russell ($8800) to beat Lewis Hamilton ($9800) as George always seems to pull out a few tricks that catch Lewis out.
Aston Martin
Lance Stroll ($4200) starts way too high. He’s in P3 and will probably get cycled back long before the first pit stops.
Fernando Alonso ($6400) also starts too high but should not fall back too badly. Always a tough team to rely on, so a play I would not be “all in” on.
Ferrari
In today’s sprint race, it was clear the Ferrari ($8800) was a top 4 car. In Gpps I think you want to have one of Carlos Sainz ($8000) or Charles Leclerc ($8600) in your lineup. I would prefer Charles as he has been slightly ahead all weekend. In the constructor spot, unless you’re getting different, it’s hard to see the Fp/$ play of Ferrari working out.
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas ($4400) starts P18 and just like his teammate Zhou ($3400) is 50/50 to beat each other. Alfa showed no pace today and have been falling back all season, at this point in the season, they might be the slowest team on the grid.
Alpine
Pierre Gasly ($5600) and Esteban Ocon ($4800) are just premium Zhou/Bottas. They aren’t likely to move up or down substantially and one will beat the other. Neither is a priority and if you’re playing multiple lineups in Gpps, have exposure but I would not play them in a cash game.
Williams
Alex Albon ($6000) will most likely drop spots and finish ahead of his teammate. The +5 points should help negate the negative points and he should finish around 6 DK points.
Logan Sargent ($3000)– Starting in P19 and finishing the sprint last. Expect Logan to gain no more than one point, anything more than that is gravy. Always a fine play in your Max/Red Bull lineups.
Alpha Tauri
Yuki Tsunoda ($4000) If Yuki can repeat his impressive performance along with fellow Alpha Tauri driver Daniel Ricciardo ($5200) then the Alpha’s might be one of the best value pieces of the season. Yuki and Daniel both have the potential to gain 5 spots and beat his teammate, or crash in turn 1. Risky, but well worth the play. Sprinkle in a few Alpha Tauri ($3200) constructor spots too (with either AT driver) to maximize the play if it works out.
Haas
Kevin Magnussen ($3200) was leading his teammate throughout the Sprint race today. Considering he starts P12 and has 5 potential places to lose, tread lightly.
Niko Hulkenberg ($3600) K-Mag’s teammate also has the potential to drop back 5 spots and not be competitive at all.
Advice
If the race holds close to the sprint race, then this is a constructor’s race. Try to fit in as many of the haves (Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren, and Aston Martin) then go from there. The lower-cost guys who have overqualified will be at risk for negative points so differentiate when playing the likes of Haas, and Alpine as you’re trying to avoid as many landmines as possible.
As always if you have any questions get at me in discord @tcuz86
