F1 Fantasy: top picks & predictions for the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix

The first 13 races of the 2024 season have been anything but predictable, with seven different race winners from four different constructors and a midfield running order which seems to change almost on a weekly basis. With so many profitable F1 Fantasy line-up options to choose from, how best should you invest your relatively small budget: in the drivers, or in the teams?

With additional bonuses on offer for good qualifying performances as well as quick pitstop times and combined overtaking scores, we’ve long suggested that picking up at least one front-running constructor is key to scoring well over an F1 Fantasy race weekend. Following on from dominant campaigns in 2022 and 2023, Red Bull‘s $29m price tag has continued to yield great returns, with 859 points scored so far in 2024 — 126 more than Ferrari; 160 more than McLaren; and 256 more than Mercedes. But with its margin of on-track advantage over the trailing field beginning to lessen and the underperformance of Sergio Perez, now may be the perfect moment to switch up your strategy by investing in not one, but two heavy-hitting constructors.

For $48.8m, you can have both McLaren and Mercedes — which have won three out of the last four grands prix and scored a combined 1302 points over the entire season so far — as your chosen F1 Fantasy constructors. This would then leave you with at least $51.2m at least to build out the rest of your line-up, meaning you could squeeze in the $31.1m Verstappen along with low budget drivers such as Kevin Magnussen ($11.3m), Nico Hülkenberg ($9.5m), Zhou Guanyu ($7.3m), and Logan Sargeant ($5.1m).

As an example of the benefit to choosing high-ranking teams, had you run this line-up from the start of the season, you’d have scored 1919 F1 Fantasy points so far this season — excluding the bonuses scored by the DRS boost or any chips. Conversely, had you chosen a driver heavy line-up, featuring three race-winning drivers in Verstappen, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton; a couple of budget options in Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu; as well as midfield constructors such as RB and Haas, you’d have scored just 1450 F1 Fantasy points so far this season (with the same exclusions).

Unsurprisingly, the top-ranked teams in the Motor Sport Fantasy league have considerably higher scores, thanks to timely transfers and use of chips.

Read on for our tips and predictions for the Belgian Grand Prix.

There are more on the rules and scoring in our F1 Fantasy full guide; and if you need some creative inspiration, check out our F1 Fantasy team name generator. For more information on the chips available and when to use them, we’ve got an F1 Fantasy chips explainer too.

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How to score the most F1 Fantasy points possible at the Belgian GP

At 4.3-miles per lap, Spa-Francorchamps often provides plenty of overtaking opportunities on race day meaning that picking drivers who can often qualify low on the grid before navigating their way through the field on race day is a worthwhile tactic over the Belgian GP weekend, even if it means missing out on qualifying points awarded to the top 10.

With wet weather expected on Saturday during qualifying, we’d opt for more experienced drivers who are less likely to crash and cost you critical F1 Fantasy points from a DNF.

If you’ve followed our advice and decided to choose McLaren and Mercedes — the two highest-scoring teams from the last three race weekends — as your constructors’ of choice, you should have at least $50m remaining in your budget to fill out the rest of your line-up.

With those criteria in mind, here’s who we’d recommend and who to avoid:

 

Max Verstappen ✅

Max Verstappen endured a frustrating Hungarian Grand Prix: losing second place to Lando Norris shortly after the start; then stuck with a sub-par strategy; before eventually clashing with Lewis Hamilton while fighting for a podium. The 17 F1 Fantasy points he scored over the weekend is by far his lowest total of the season so far (excluding his DNF in Australia) and with McLaren outperforming Red Bull, many players may have decided to spend their limited F1 Fantasy budget elsewhere. But don’t count the Dutchman out just yet.

He’s got form for winning in Spa — a track which has long-suited the Red Bull.  He won convincingly despite starting from sixth on the grid in 2023 and from 14th in 2022. Despite not winning a race since the Spanish GP, the Dutchman also still leads the grid in total F1 Fantasy points scored (410), average F1 Fantasy points scored (31.54) and value for money (1.01 points scored per million spent).

Like all great champions, the frustration of the Hungaroring as well as the increased competition of McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari is likely to only spur the reigning world champion on.

 

Ferrari 😐

After a positive start to the 2024 campaign which included race victories in Australia and Monaco as well as podium finishes in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Miami, Imola and Austria, Ferrari’s performances have dropped behind McLaren and Mercedes, but the team is positive that recent upgrades can turn the tide.

Even so, picking the Maranello outfit over McLaren or Mercedes as one of your chosen constructors is a particularly tough sell. Since the Canadian GP, Ferrari has scored just 179 points. Over the same time period, Red Bull has scored 260 points, Mercedes (which costs $0.5m less) has scored 303 and McLaren (which costs just $2.5m more) has scored 311. At least one driver from those other three constructors has won races in that period, while Sainz’s fortunate podium finish in Austria has been the Scuderia’s best race result since Leclerc’s win in Monte Carlo.

In short, although its cheaper price tag (compared to McLaren) may be tempting, we’d recommend avoiding Ferrari as one of your chosen constructors — at least until it gets a better handle on its new upgrades.

 

Either Haas driver ✅

No matter what budget you find yourself with, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg have proven themselves invaluable when it comes to building a successful F1 Fantasy outfit.

Magnussen features in just 22% of line-ups yet has scored 81 points so far this season (the tenth-highest score), averaged 6.23 points per grand prix and leads the grid in total overtakes (82). As a result, his value has also soared more than any driver on the grid, climbing from an initial price of $6.2m to $11.3m.

In our opinion, the Dane is still well worth the price but if you’re after a cheaper alternative, look no further than his team-mate.

For just $9.5m, Hülkenberg has scored 74 points so far this season (13th-highest), while also reaching Q3 on six separate occasions and ranking third for the most overtakes completed (67). As a result of his lower price tag, the German features in 35% of line-ups but is still a great budget option!

 

Alex Albon ❌

Alex Albon is currently the most selected F1 Fantasy driver on the entire grid — as he features in 48% of all line-ups — yet has only scored 11 points so far this season. Only his Williams team-mate, Logan Sargeant, has scored less (6).

A combination of poor performance from the Williams FW46 as well as some occasional bad luck is mostly to blame for his underperformance, but even for just $8.9m, we believe there’s better ways to spend your budget.

For just $7.6m, you can have Valtteri Bottas who, despite being behind the wheel of an equally struggling Sauber, has scored triple Albon’s current F1 Fantasy points total so far this season. If you’re on a tighter budget, the Finn’s team-mate Zhou Guanyu is arguably an ever better option having scored 13 points more and has proved to be a reliable and consistent source of points in previous seasons.

 

Which F1 Fantasy Chips should I play in Hungary?

Even with rain forecast to fall during qualifying, we’d recommend saving your Final Fix Chip — which when activated allows players to make a single change to their F1 Fantasy line-up between qualifying and the race — for another weekend.

Although the wet conditions could result in a mixed starting order for Sunday’s race, Spa often offers plenty of chances for drivers to move up through the field, meaning if Logan Sargeant puts it on pole, he’ll likely end up finishing toward the rear-end of the field anyway, losing the players who chose him lots of F1 Fantasy points in the process!

But if you’re wanting to follow our advice on running two front-running constructors in your line-up, you may have to use your Wildcard Chip to do it — as when activated, it allows you to make as many changes to your F1 Fantasy line-up as you want, while incurring no penalties.