Formula 1

Welcome to the 10th edition of Formula 1 Race Week: Silverstone, British GP, July 2022.

Silverstone, the birthplace of the then-known “World Championship of Drivers” is now known as the Formula 1 World Championship. Watching the cars going hard into the right-hander of Copse corner, through the windy bits of Maggots and Becketts, down to the Hanger straight is a sight that’s on my bucket list. This is a track that all the drivers know well, some even have their names in stone here, as Lewis Hamilton has a street named after him, Hamilton straight.

In typical English fashion, the weather always impacts this race somehow, whether it be wind or rain, and this weekend was no different. Rain welcomed the fans and teams on Friday washing out Free Practice 1. Free Practice 2 and 3 were dry then qualifying came and so did the rain. This is going to be a not so straight forward grid, so let’s find some DraftKings plays that will help us get to the top of our contests.

Formula 1: DFS Top Captain Options

Max Verstappen, Red Bull $17,700

Max is too damn chill. The guy just puts in hot laps like it’s his job, which it is, and he does it well. He’s starting in position 2, sandwiched between the Ferrari’s, but he is the defending world champion and deserves to be in the captain spot. It is going to be interesting to see what the field does with him though as he is the most expensive driver and he is not on the pole this weekend.

Either Ferrari ($10,800) drivers

Carlos Sainz Jr $12,900 finds himself on the pole this weekend. The rain might have assisted, but we can not take anything away from Carlos this weekend. He has been sharp all weekend. Carlos averaged the 4th best time on the medium tire in FP2 and was the fastest in FP3 among all drivers. His teammate Charles Leclerc $16,800 was no slouch either. Charles was atop the times in all sessions, averaging the fastest overall times in Free Practice 2. I think it’s Ferrari’s race to lose…which is kind of scary because Ferrari seems to be a better team to react to changes in the race, not so much dictating them.

I am going to hunt to see if I can get a good read on the field. If I am playing multiple lines and multiple contests, which I am, I am going to have exposure to all 3 in the Captain spot, with their corresponding constructor in that position as well. Prioritizing Red Bull $11,900 with Max or Ferrari in the constructor position is probably the most optimal play this weekend.

Formula 1: DFS Mid Tier options

Mercedes

With somewhat random teams and drivers in the top 10 positions for qualifying, looking at you Nicholas Latifi, team Mercedes $9600 makes for a very interesting play. Lewis Hamilton $10,000, sits in P5, and has shown an improvement with upgrades to his and his teammate’s car. With a proper race strategy, I could see Lewis finishing on the podium this weekend. His teammate George Russell $9000 has been the second-best Mercedes driver this weekend, but it’s someone whom I wouldn’t dismiss. I just don’t know how you’d fit him in with salaries.

Lando Norris $7800

Lando has been showing out for his home fans this weekend. He had the 3rd fastest overall single lap time in FP3 and has been leading the best of the rest all weekend. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo has been off the pace and starts down in P14. Lando should comfortably finish in the top 10 and beat his teammate, providing maximum DraftKings points.

Fernando Alonso $6400

Fernando Alonso $6800 Fernando was doing old man Fernando things all weekend. Not showing out, but not dropping off either. He should make for a decent play.

Formula 1: DFS Other options

Alfa Romeo $4000

With Valtteri Bottas $7200 starting in P12 and Zhou Guanyu $3200 starting at P9 I like the chances of Alfa Romeo this weekend. Zhou will probably be popular as he allows the field to get in the top salaried drivers, however, I would say Zhou could be a sitting duck going into turn 1. I wouldn’t be surprised if the AlphaTauri eclipses him. Speaking of which, Alpha Tauri and Aston Martin have been bringing up the rear of the midfield. Alpha Tauri has seen their race pace fall away during the races, but if they can fix their strategy issues, they have pace.

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.

Aston Martin just seems to not be able to understand tire pressures in the rain. In the dry, they had a pace of 1:30.2 and 1:30.38 for Sebastian Vettel $5000 and Lance Stroll $3600, respectively. The race is expected to be dry, so I expect Aston to perform better than they qualify.

Alex Albon $3800 is a better wheelman than his teammate Latifi. But due to the rain, Latifi’s bare minimum of $3000 starts in p10. People will take a shot with Latifi, in a GPP I understand it, but in a single entry, he should not touch your lines.

DFS Constructor options

• Red Bull $11,400 Max has all the ability to win this race, his teammate Sergio Perez is slightly more questionable. Sergio just does not seem to fit this style of race track.  

• Ferrari $10,800 The Scuderia’s strengths are made for this track. This track requires torque and strength through the corners and that’s what the Ferrari is built to do. 
• Alfa Romeo $4000 if you’re like me, the gambling type, Alfa allows you to fit the top guys in. It’s very risky, but with them utilizing the Ferrari engine I think it is worthy of a shot. 

Race Week Great Britain, British Grand Prix DFS overall strategy

I have to stress just how much the rain impacted qualifying and the race weekend overall. Drivers could be seen as starting out of position which would through off a lot. I think the Ferrari’s take this race, hoping Carlos Sainz stays atop. DFS-wise, the field should be wide open which makes for an interesting weekend.

I’m going to start with Carlos Sainz and Ferrari from there you can stay with the inexpensive risky top 10 qualifiers, or go balanced with midfield drivers.

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 British Grand Prix, July 2022.

Welcome to the 9th edition of Formula 1 Race Week: Montreal, Canada, June 2022.

Due to Covid restrictions Formula 1 has not been on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve since 2019. This Circuit is 2.710 miles long in the middle of a seaport. The track is surrounded by water and rain usually plays a role in this race. Which again it did today. Between the weather and other factors, this preview will be slightly different from my normal articles. Keep reading and find out how.

Formula 1: DFS Top Captain Options

Max Verstappen, Red Bull $16,800

For our F1 DK lineups, we must decide to be with the field and play Max w/ Red Bull for $11,500 in the constructor position or be contrarian. We have to make this decision right off the bat because Charles Leclerc $15,300 who is a staple in the top captain position, will have a grid penalty and start in the back of the field.

Along with Charles’s absence from the top captain options, we have to add Sergio Perez $15,900 to the same category as Charles. Sergio has just looked off the pace this weekend. They say there are “horses for courses” unfortunately for Sergio, this is not a that suits his driving style. He starts P13. One caveat for Sergio is that due to rain during qualifying and conditions that won’t be reflective of the conditions on Sunday, he could move up the field and gain bonus points. If it works out, he would make a great contrarian captain option and overall play.

Formula 1: DFS Mid Tier options

Mercedes

With somewhat random teams and drivers in the top 10 positions for qualifying, looking at you Zhou Guanyu, team Mercedes $9300 makes for a very interesting play. George Russell $9000 gambled and lost by going out on slick tires while the circuit was still wet. He ended up spinning off track and will start P8. Lewis Hamilton $8400, sits in P4, and I think is worthy of a roster or two if he can hold or exceed his position.

Alpine

Fernando Alonso $6800 and Esteban Ocon $6000. This Circuit historically was not a great one for Fernando Alonso, however, he has seemed to put it all together this weekend. He was a top 10 car all weekend and ended up on the front row with Max Verstappen, starting P2. Ocon starts p7 and could pick off the drivers around him to gain positions. Alpine $5000 makes for a fantastic value in the constructor position.

Formula 1: DFS Other options

Valtteri Bottas $7400 and Kevin Magnussen $5200. While these two drivers are usually staples in the top 10, this weekend they find themselves there on outside factors, not so much their performance. As both cars have Ferrari engines, I think the weather, which was cold and wet, played right into the natural performance of the Ferrari engine. I say that because neither the Hass nor the Alfa Romeo showed any sort of pace all weekend. The rain enhanced their positions. With no rain being expected on Sunday’s race, I hesitate to use either one or their teammates who are also over-qualified.

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.

$5000 Sebastian Vettel. The older drivers showed out on Friday and FP3 with Fernando performing well, and Sebastian right there with Fernando. Then the rain came. All the pace of the Aston Martin just disappeared and after being in the top 10 all weekend, Sebastian found himself not getting out of qualifying session 1. He will start in p16. I do think this lights a fire under his ass and he shows us his pace over the weekend was no fluke.

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 the last guy in, Albon is fine.

DFS Constructor options

• Red Bull $11,400 It’s Max’s race to lose, and I don’t think he loses it.  

• Mercedes $9300 It’s the field around them that makes me interested in Mercedes. I did do the math, and if max leads all laps (except pit laps obviously) and wins the race, Red Bull still outscores Mercedes. 
• 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 Canada DFS overall strategy

I went into Saturday expecting to write about Sergio Perez, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando, and Pierre Gasly. Then the skies opened up and through the whole weekend into a frenzy. I don’t think we will see many duplicate fantasy lineups this weekend. I do think the field will start their lineups with Max and Red Bull. However, after that, selecting Alonso or Carlos makes your other options vastly different.

On Friday Sebastian Vettel was a top 10 car. The Alpha Tauri of Pierre Gasly was showing amazing speed. Both Aston Martin showed pace. Haas and Alfa Romeo were both an afterthought. I think as teams saw that it did not make sense to sacrifice the weekend’s setup, adding downforce to counter the rainy conditions, was the way to go, teams left setup for Sunday. For this reason, I think we will see a massive change from the starting order and a driver or two no one was expecting on the podium this weekend.

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 Canada June 2022.

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.

Welcome to the 7th edition of Formula 1 Race Week: Monaco, May 2022.

The Principality of Monaco is legendary, from turn 1, Sainte Devote a corner named for the patron saint of Monaco with the chapel in the back. Through Beau Rivage is one of the few “straights” on the circuit. Going full throttle into Massenet, a long left-handed corner in front of the Monaco opera house. Turning right into Casino Square, probably the most featured location in Monaco.

Heading to the slowest corner on the calendar, the Grand Hotel Hairpin. Then banging a right into Portier as you head into the tunnel where sparks fly and the sound of the race cars bounce off the walls. Blasting out of the tunnel into the Nouvelle Chicane, next to the harbor where the mega stupid ultra-rich hang out on their yachts, shoutout to Connor McGregor. (Soon to make his NASCAR return former F1 champ Kimi Räikkönen once crashed out of the race and famously went and kicked in on a yacht. Absolute legend.)

Finishing the lap through the swimming pool complex and heading to Rascasse to cross the start/finish line to do it all again.

If you’ve ever played Gran Turismo or Forza, this track is called Cote d’ Azur and I can remember all the legendary races my friends and I had on the PlayStations and Xbox. A marvel to be had, and I’m excited for Monaco to kick off one of the best racing days of the year.

Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500, Coca Cola 600, on Memorial Day weekend.

A thank you to those who gave their lives in defense of this nation.

Let’s find some DraftKings options and win some damn money.

Formula 1 DFS: Top Captain Options

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari $17,400. or should I say captain option. With its slow turns and short straights, this is a race track that is suited well for Ferrari. This is Charles’ home race too, where he has not had much luck in finishing, let alone winning. It really is Charles’s race to lose. In tournaments, I’d play him at 50% of my lines, and mix and match other racers. Considering Max Verstappen has been off the pace this weekend; Charles makes a lot of sense in the Captain position.

Low owned captain options

Max Verstappen, Red Bull $16,800. Max has been off the pace this weekend, and the Red Bull thrives in long straights. I imagine the field will have Charles predominantly featured in the Captain position, but as I said before anything can happen. Monaco is more of a driver’s race and Max is no stranger to this circuit. I’ll have my shares of the current driver championship leader.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull $8600. Sergio looked just as competitive as Max in the sister Red Bull. Practicing all weekend in the top 5.

Formula 1: DFS Mid Tier options

Alpha Tauri

Pierre Gasly $4600 and Yuki Tsunoda $4200. The Alpha Tauri has been a top 5 car all weekend in practice. However, Yuki crashed in Q1, which prevented his teammate from setting a fast lap and Yuki from not setting one in Q2. If the alpha tauris can gain positions they will be in the fight for the mid-tier.

McLaren

Lando Norris $7400 Lando has looked impressive all weekend. With his teammate struggling and McLaren looking up for the challenge, Lando will be a heavily featured driver in my lineups.

Alpine

Fernando Alonso $7400 and Esteban Ocon $6400 qualified in the top 10, p7 and p10. If Monaco is difficult to pass then they should remain top 10 cars.

Aston Martin

Sebastian Vettel $3800 and Lance Stroll $3400 Aston has brought to Monaco a car that looks ready to race. For the savings, Vettel will be in my player pool, Stroll, not so much.

The Mercedes $9500 duo of Lewis Hamilton $9000 and George Russell $10000 can be a dark horse this weekend. They have been in a fight with McLaren for the 3rd best team on the grid this weekend and if things fall their way, they can find themselves on the podium.

Formula 1: DFS Cheap 5 points options

With the options of Vettel and Tsunoda, I don’t think you should need to pick anyone else in this range. Of course, Albon looks better than Latifi on the track, but the Williams is the slowest car on the grid, and it’s not close.

Formula 1: DFS Constructor options

• Ferrari for $11,500. It really is Ferrari’s race to lose. This circuit suits their racecar well with slow, tight corners and short straights. 

• Red Bull $11,000 The Red Bulls stand to gain if history repeats itself and Charles and Ferrari run into issues. 

• Mercedes $9500 their race pace always keeps them in the fight.

• Alpha Tauri $3800, had a domino effect of trouble in Q1. Their pace is a lot better than what they showed in qualifying.
• Alpine, $4500 the opposite of alpha tauris. Alpine looked like they were competing for the 4th tier team this weekend and set themselves up for qualifying. Fernando is typically difficult to pass besides being on Monaco so I like his chances of remaining in the top 10. 

Formula 1: Race Week Monaco DFS overall strategy

This race has a history of weird things happening. With a new car, I think the strategy of playing light and sticking to single entries is the way to go. This race can get nuts.

If you have questions please feel free to hit me up in discord @tcuz86. Have fun and thanks for reading Formula 1: Race Week Monaco May 2022.

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.

Welcome to the 5th edition of Formula 1 Race Week: Miami, May 2022. Round 5 of the championship introduces Miami Autodrome to the Formula 1 calendar. This 3.36-mile street circuit winds its way around the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins.

Miami reminds me of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where high-speed long runs meet slow corners. The Ferrari duo should do well in slow corners, and the Red Bull should get them back in the straights. With an inaugural race, anything can happen when the green flag drops Sunday the 8th at 3:30 pm EST.

Formula 1 DFS: Top Captain Options

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari $17,100. Charles was in the top 2 in all three practice sessions and put himself on the pole to start the race, once again. Miami seems to be a narrow track that should play into Charles gaining maximum DraftKings points by leading laps and a podium finishing position. If you’re playing one lineup or a Single Entry, Charles makes a lot of sense in the Captain position.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull $17,700. Max had an interesting weekend thus far. He started Friday in Free Practice 1 in P3, then followed that up with mechanical issues in FP2. The crew fixed their issue and got Max on the track for FP3 and qualifying. He is set up for long runs and will be featured in my captain spot.

It’s more than possible to play both guys in your lineups utilizing the Cheap 5 points value plays (found later in the article) and dropping down to the mid-priced constructor options, which are not so bad this week.

Low owned captain options

Sergio Perez, Red Bull $15,900. Sergio looked just as competitive as Max in the sister Red Bull. Practicing all weekend in the top 3, Sergio will be heavily in the mix for the captain options.

An interesting play this week is Carlos Sainz, Ferrari $15,000. After a tough start to the weekend, crashing in FP1 and getting limited run; Carlos rebounded and qualified in P2. With his recent struggles, he should garner lower ownership and makes for an interesting GPP play.

Formula 1 DFS: Captain options summary

Overall, I would not hesitate to mix and match these top 4 salaried drivers. For DraftKings purposes, keep in mind the 5 points for defeating your teammate as the difference between a 1st place takedown in your tournaments and a 2nd place finish can be as little as 4 points.

Formula 1: DFS Mid Tier options

The mid-tier options are wide open this week. This is where DraftKings scoring strategy comes into play. After 5 weeks of race data, still a small sample size though, there have been fantasy scoring trends; one being: beat your teammate…even better if your select driver finishes in the top 10, and the teammate finished outside that range.

Those 5 points are critical, and if you’re playing multiple lineups this week, I would rotate through the driver options of:

Alpha Tauri

Pierre Gasly $5400 and Yuki Tsunoda $4200. On the Hard compound tires, the Alpha Tauri’s were firmly in play in the top 10. They might opt for a one-stop strategy and try to gain track position in the pits. Considering their time on the hards, it could be a strategy that pays off.

Choosing between the two is the really difficult part, but Gasly seems to have the upper hand this weekend. Don’t hesitate to use Alpha Tauri $3800 in the constructor position either.

McLaren

Lando Norris $8600 Lando should get the 5 Defeat Teammate points this week as he starts 6 positions ahead in P8. The McLaren is set up for a 2 stop strategy and has not been really impressive in the long runs.

Aston Martin

Sebastian Vettel $3600 and Lance Stroll $3200 The Aston seems to be mimicking Mercedes this weekend, following the same practice strategy all weekend. They will be worthy of roster spots as the last man in options for your DraftKings lineups.

The Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas $7400 qualified well, but I have a feeling Valtteri loses out on grid positions during pit rotations.

Formula 1: DFS Cheap 5 points options

Alex Albon $3,400 is always a good cheap 5 points option. Albon has been getting the most out of his Williams, and his teammate really sucks.

Other options include $9200 Lewis Hamilton and $5800 Fernando Alonso.

Formula 1: DFS Constructor options

• Red Bull for $12,000 this weekend. It’s hard to overlook what they can do at P3 and P4, especially in the 2nd half of the race.

• Ferrari $11,600. If Sainz and Leclerc can stay in the top 3, the Ferrari makes for a hell of a play.

• Mercedes $8400, their race pace always keeps them in the fight.

• Alpha Tauri $3800, let’s see what that long-run pace can do.

Formula 1: Race Week Miami DFS overall strategy

I’m building from the bottom up this weekend in DraftKings. It’s tough to outscore the potential 60 points from a constructor finishing with both drivers on the podium. After stressing about staying in the midfield with longer run potential (the Alpha Tauris and Astons) I’ll be sprinkling in the drivers who have seriously outscored their teammates (Bottas and Hamilton)

As always I’m excited about another race and am happy to see the hype behind this one. It’s been fun watching people like George Lucas, Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, Danica Patrick, and freaking Snoop Dogg running around the paddock. If you have questions please feel free to hit me up in discord @tcuz86. Have fun and thanks for reading Formula 1: Race Week Miami May 2022.