NASCAR DFS

Welcome to another edition of Formula 1 Race Week: Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023.

It’s going to be a quick article from me, so if you have any questions definitely get to me in Discord @tcuz86

Team Breakdowns

Red Bull

Red Bull- Max Verstappen ($14,400) starts 2nd on Sunday in the rocket ship Red Bull. Charles might sit on the pole, but the Red Bull is still the class of the field. Max and Charles registered the exact same qualifying lap time-wise, so there is nothing between them. Do what you want with Max, go all in, and play him in the driver spot with Red Bull at the constructor. However you want to do it, just make sure you play him.

Sergio Perez ($11,400) is an interesting play to me, personally, I won’t lock button Max, so wherever I don’t have Max I want to have Sergio as he’s in the sister rocket ship. Pair him with Red Bull and go from there.

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc ($8,800) sits on the pole and has a good history here at Baku. He can realistically lead laps, but as we saw in today’s sprint race, and last year’s race, the Red Bull can get him. Ferrari has a good chance of maximizing points here, so having exposure to a potential race winner on the pole is a good way to go.

Charles’ teammate, Carlos Sainz ($7,400) needs Charles to DNF or something wild to happen. It’s always a possibility but not something anyone should go all in on.

Mercedes

Should be a lonely race for Lewis Hamilton ($9600) and George Russel ($8000), they don’t have the car to compete against the Ferrari or Red Bull, so they should mix it up with Aston Martin. Neither is a high priority.

Aston Martin

Aston Martin seems to be having a DRS issue all weekend. They say they fix it on both cars, but then we don’t see the rear wing flap opening up in DRS zones. Considering the price point of Fernando Alonso ($10,200) and Lance Stroll ($6600) it feels like paying a premium for ok points. I’d advise looking elsewhere this weekend.

Alpine

it’s just Esteban Ocon ($5600) for me this weekend. Pierre Gasly was on fire on Friday, the team got the car repaired, only for Pierre to put it in a wall in qualifying. He can definitely overtake some cars, but he would need Ocon to DNF and gain 8 spots to get into the points. That is a lot of factors to overcome at ($6,200)

McLaren

McLaren brings a new floor and race track-specific new bits to their chassis and it’s definitely made the McLaren Mercedes come to life. Lando Norris ($5,800) is always going to be the preferred Mclaren driver, however, his teammate, Oscar Piastri ($5,200) should not be outright dismissed. They don’t have the upside to playing them in the same lineup, but being exposed to the upgraded McLaren seems like a fine way to go this weekend. 

Alfa

Alfa has not shown anything at all this weekend. In the bottom teams during practice, bottom during qualifying, and bottom in the sprint race. Zhou Guanyu ($4,400) did gain places during the sprint race and at his price point if he’s a driver I need to click on to run out a few lineups, I would have no problem with that. Also, GPP winning lineups had Zhou in the Captain spot last race. Valtteri is not a priority for me this weekend. 

Williams

Williams- Alex Albon ($4800) qualified in P13 and was mixing it up in the top 10 during the sprint race. Baku has a lot of straights where the low downforce Williams thrives. I like Albon’s chances to maximize points, he would be a heavy exposure candidate if his price tag was a bit cheaper. His teammate Logan Sargent ($3200) is someone I’m struggling to place. His price tag is exceptional, qualified in P15, and got caught out by the Ferraris during qualifying, but it did not hurt him too badly. It’s his price tag that’s the intriguing point. At ($3200) we don’t need him to do much, even if he falls back, at his price, your lineups should be able to recover. I’d much prefer another sub $3.5k driver but if Logan is someone you need to make a lineup work, click away.

Alpha Tauri

After qualifying Yuki Tsunoda looked like a top option for me, good price tag at ($4000) qualified in P8, good track history. However, after looking into the results of other teams, I am concerned about Yuki falling back significantly. I will have some, but not a driver I am all in on this. His teammate on the other hand is the polar opposite. At the bare minimum, Nyck De Vries ($3000) can’t hurt your lineups. Qualifying in p20, there’s nothing that can happen that would cause De Vries to torpedo your lineups, a high-exposure candidate to say the least.

Haas

I like the Hass this weekend for cheap value plays. Hulkenberg ($3800) and Magnussen ($3400) qualified in P17 and P18 respectively so playing them is no issue. Hulkenberg has a history of high tyre degradation so maybe Magnussen ends up as the better play once the race is over, but either way, they are a good last-guy-in plays.

Constructors

Red Bull Racing ($13,200) or Ferrari ($8500) for me. If you’re playing a bunch of lineups, Mercedes paired with one of their drivers if things fall that way, McLaren ($4500) for a cheap way to get top 10 finishers, or Williams ($3100) to get wild with it. 

If you have any questions or if you’d like to talk strategy @tcuz86 in Discord.