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

Following on from heated exchanges in Miami, Imola, Canada and Austria, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris are set to do battle again at Silverstone for a British GP win which could play a major part in defining the rest of the world championship. But with potentially more costly clashes in store, who should you pick to lead your F1 Fantasy outfit?

Both Norris and Verstappen have been the most valuable assets on the F1 Fantasy grid for some time, taking up the top two spots in total points scored, average points scored per grand prix and podium finishes. Unfortunately this comes at a cost, as to have both drivers in your line-up will cost an eye-watering $56.9m.

They have been consistently fighting for victories in recent races, but Austria showed the additional risks that this brings. If they clash again — which isn’t unknown at Silverstone — they could end up hampering your standing in the F1 Fantasy leaderboards, and so some diversification away from the pair looks to be a wise move. After topping both FP1 and FP2 while also being among the fastest in race simulations, we’d recommend picking ip Norris plus a plus a safety option from Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren or Mercedes.

One of the benefits of such a tightly contested grid is that from one grand prix week to the next, eight drivers from the top four constructors have a realistic chance of victory. George Russell showed that in Austria, as he cruised to victory after passing the ailing cars of Verstappen and Norris — scoring 43 F1 Fantasy points in the process (his highest tally of the season so far).

The Briton could once again be in the hunt for victory at Silverstone after stating that the W15 is the most comfortable Mercedes he’s driven so far since making the switch the Brackley outfit in 2022. But he’ll be far from the only one challenging at the front.

F1 Fantasy: The next best options?

He may have fallen back from the drivers’ title fight, but Charles Leclerc‘s F1 Fantasy value has continued to speak for itself. The Monégasque has the highest points per million value of any driver on the grid (1.1) and has accrued the third-most F1 Fantasy points despite difficult races in Canada, Spain and Austria. He was also the fifth-fastest runner in FP2 — but rumour has it that the Maranello outfit have some pace in reserve. For $1.06m less, his Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz has been a similar bargain and could be in with a chance of replicating his Silverstone success from 2022.

With McLaren arguably possessing the fastest car on the current grid it could even be worth gambling on Oscar Piastri to secure his first career win — following on from a hard-fought podium finish in Austria, he set the second-fastest lap in FP2 (just three-tenths shy of his team-mate Norris).

Read on for our tips and predictions for the British Grand Prix, and don’t forget to join the Motor Sport Fantasy league.

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.

Join the official Motor Sport Magazine League
Code: P26UURWJ208

JOIN NOW

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

Silverstone is a fast and flowing circuit which presents a much different challenge to the one F1 drivers faced in Austria.

As always, before making any final decisions about your F1 Fantasy line-up, be sure to check out the results of the three practice sessions to ensure you have a good idea of who’s quick and who’s not. With clear weather for qualifying (but showers forecast for the race), this isn’t an obvious round to play your Final Fix Chip, which when activated allows you to make one change to your line-up after qualifying has been completed — ideal for unpredictable conditions and an unexpected line-up.

If you’ve still got your Limitless or Extra DRS Chip you may also want to save them for the remaining sprint weekends in the US, Brazil and Qatar — where effectively double points are on offer!

With similar characteristics to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and little time to apply new upgrades, don’t be surprised if Silverstone sees a similar could share a similar highly-competitive order. Lando Norris was on pole for the Spanish Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen two-hundredths of a second behind him. Both Mercedes and ferraris were within 0.35sec of the pole time.

As a result, here’s who we’d suggest fitting into your F1 Fantasy line-up for this weekend:

George Russell ✅

Now a two-time F1 race winner, George Russell could quickly be becoming a serious contender for a position in your F1 Fantasy outfit.

Costing just $21.4m, the Briton is the cheapest driver to have scored 200 points or more so far this season and he has been a far more more consistent performer than his Mercedes co-star Lewis Hamilton — who has scored 44 points less than Russell despite costing $0.4m more.

Russell’s British GP record is hardly one to gloat about, as even in his short stint with Mercedes he’s qualified no higher than sixth and finished no higher than fifth — while also failing to reach the first corner in 2022. But if his current form is any indication — pole and third in Canada; fourth in Spain; and first in Austria — the Kings Lynn lad’s upward trajectory could land him on the top step of his home race.

Hamilton is perhaps the next best option having won the British GP on a record-setting eight separate occasions. But after a “s**t” performance at the Red Bull Ring, we’d suggest sticking with Russell, the second-most in-form Briton on the grid — who has only been picked by just 10% of F1 Fantasy players!

Serio Perez ❌

Following on from his surprise Red Bull contract extension, Sergio Perez has done little to convince people that he’s worthy of a front-running seat or a place in their F1 Fantasy line-ups. While the Mexican was a much more economical alternative to his $30m team-mate at the start of the season, he’s scored a net total of 0 points over the last four grands prix after failing to finish in Monaco (-20) and Canada (-17) before only performing mediocrely in Spain (19) and Austria (18).

Unfortunately there is no current end to Perez’s struggles in sight, as last year he failed to reach Q3 at the British GP for the eighth consecutive race. Similar form and a tightly contested field means a similar performance could be in store.

Perez’s hefty price tag is also become a big issue for F1 Fantasy players as, for anywhere between $1.2m to $0.6m less, you can get your hands on either Carlos Sainz, Oscar Piastri or George Russell — two of whom have already won races in 2024.

Alpine ✅

Alpine‘s struggles may finally be over.

With it’s performance seemingly on the rise and the infighting between its drivers relatively squashed since a disastrous start to the Monaco GP — which saw Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly crash into each other — the Enstone outfit may quickly be becoming the best budget midfield team to be found on the current grid.

While costing only $10.1m, the 76 F1 Fantasy points Alpine has scored since the Canadian GP is a greater total that RB (52), Aston Martin (75), Sauber (30) and Williams (-11) but is still short of what the cheaper Haas team has produced over the same timeframe (82).

However, looking to the future and with the backing of a major manufacturer behind it, it’s arguably more likely that Alpine’s form could continue to improve for the rest of the season, while Haas’s limited budget could soon cause it to hit its performance ceiling.

While the two are so comparable in price, we’d suggest it’s worth the gamble.

Daniel Ricciardo ❌

Daniel Ricciardo‘s time in F1 is, once again, rumoured to be coming to a close. Following on from a disappointing start to the season, which has caused the Aussie to be among the bottom three worst F1 Fantasy scorers of the season so far, Liam Lawson could preparing to take over the reins at RB sooner rather than later.

Ricciardo has been repeatedly outperformed by his cheaper and younger team-mate, Yuki Tsunoda, over the first 11 races of the season: currently losing 3-8 in qualifying results and 4-6 in race results. This may be a pattern which is set to continue with the Japanese driver seemingly more comfortable behind the wheel of the VCARB01.

Under such pressure in the past, Ricciardo has flourished in the past — in Canada for example, where after critical comments made about him by Jacques Villeneuve, Ricciardo qualified fifth and finished eighth. But another one-off great performance from the Honey Badger — which doesn’t seem likely after finishing among the slowest runners during FP1 and FP2 — may not be enough to save him from a premature exit.

Until the dust has settled or he’s reaffirmed his RB seat, we’d suggest keeping your line-up Ricciardo-free for the immediate future.