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

Entering the final four races of the 2024 F1 Fantasy season,  there’s all still to play for at the top with just 38 points separating the top four teams in the global leaderboards.

With the difference between victory and defeat likely being being minimal, F1 Fantasy players should be concentrating all their efforts on identifying consistent sources of points — which is difficult given the fact that the race at the front is currently being contested by up to five different drivers from three different constructors.

Therefore, F1 Fantasy players may have to look a little further back in the field to find any type of consistency. And that’s where Haas comes in.

Since arriving at the US Grand Prix with a large upgrade package, the American outfit has been a constructor transformed: Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen have each appeared in Q3 twice, secured three top-ten finishes between them and scored Haas 59 F1 Fantasy points in the process.

Comparatively, Mercedes — which costs $12.4m more than Haas ($12m) — has only scored 25 points more over the same two-race period. Similarly priced outfits such as Alpine ($11.4m) and RB ($12.6m) have scored 35 and 15 points respectively.

Haas’s performance streak could continue in the week to come too, as the undulating and high-speed characteristics of the Interlagos circuit shares several similarities with Austin and Mexico City, where both Hülkenberg and Magnussen were able to keep pace with the likes of Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Sergio Perez and even Max Verstappen.

But even if they find themselves further back in the pack in Sao Paulo, both Haas drivers have also proved themselves to valuable F1 Fantasy team members. Magnussen has overtaken more cars than any other driver on the grid in 2024 (111) and Hülkenberg has only performed 15 fewer passes. With a point awarded for each one, long-time users of both drivers have bagged themselves at least 207 F1 Fantasy points from the midfielders over the course of the season — all for a combined bargain price of $25.1m.

It still doesn’t make sense to choose the Haas constructor card, as despite the team’s heightened performance, it’s still behind the fastest and not in contention for regular race wins or pole positions — which is where the big points are earned.

However, we’d heavily suggest cramming Hülkenberg and Magnussen into your F1 Fantasy driver line-up. For less money than Carlos Sainz or Lewis Hamilton, you’ll be adding two seasoned drivers to your team who not only have the potential to score big midfield points but have also been on pole position in Sao Paulo before: Magnussen in 2022 and Hulkenberg in 2010.

You’ll also more than enough budget left over to fill out your line-up with a blend of title contenders and red hot rookies.

Read on for our tips and predictions for the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix and remember to join our 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.

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How to score the most F1 Fantasy points at the Sao Paulo 

The Sao Paulo GP hosts the fifth sprint race of the season, meaning there is an extra session in which drivers can score additional points.

If you still have your Extra DRS chip (which triples the score of a selected driver) or Limitless chip (which allows you to build a line-up with an unlimited budget) now may be the best time to use them. In the best-case scenario, your driver will score two bumper points hauls from the GP and sprint race, having made full use of the circuit’s plentiful overtaking opportunities to move up the running order (boosting the Fantasy points score further).

But by the same token, the sprint race weekend format could also create additional chances for costly crashes and DNFs. While there is a reduced reward for the winner of the sprint (eight points for a win descending to one point for eighth), the 20-point penalty for failing to finish remains the same.

So, as we saw in COTA, the best way to score the most F1 Fantasy possible this weekend, is by opting for a balanced driver line-up that isn’t prone to mistakes.

While adding Magnussen and Hülkenberg to your line-up does give your F1 Fantasy line-up an almost unrivalled level of experience, battling in the midfield can lead to some unfortunate clashes — so be sure to pair both drivers with some big point scoring pieces too.

You’ll still be able to afford two front-running constructors and as regular readers of Motor Sport‘s F1 Fantasy guides will know picking McLaren and Ferrari — over a struggling Mercedes and Sergio Perez-hampered Red Bull — has long been our recommendation.

This should leave you with around $47m to fill out the rest of your line-up.

Being a sprint race weekend, it’s also important to remember that the deadline for picking your line-up ends on Saturday at 2pm ahead of the sprint — not before qualifying on Friday. So make sure to watch the racing action and see who’s in form before finalising your squad.

Charles Leclerc ✅

In Motor Sport‘s last F1 Fantasy guide, we stated that Charles Leclerc was the best F1 Fantasy driver on offer. And, he justified that in Mexico City.

He may have had to settle for third in the race, but Leclerc still scored the second-most F1 Fantasy points (35) over the weekend — six more than Lando Norris and 14 more than Max Verstappen.

With the drivers’ title rivals expected to continue their heated on-track battle in Sao Paulo — which has already resulted in wheel-to-wheel clashes in Austria, Austin and Mexico City — Leclerc will likely continue to take advantage and score precious F1 Fantasy points in the process.

For $25.7m, he’s also at least $1.5m cheaper than Norris or Verstappen, which leaves you with a little extra budget for some better midfield options.

Oscar Piastri ❌

For $0.2m less than Leclerc, Oscar Piastri once looked like a steal.

He has proved a serious if not equal match to Norris in a McLaren and has only scored 82 F1 Fantasy points fewer than the Briton over the course of the 2024 season. But, ever since receiving orders to support his team-mate’s drivers’ title bid in any way he can, the Aussie has gone a little quiet.

In his last two race weekends, Piastri has scored only 56 points. Although that’s only three less than both Verstappen and Norris have managed, it’s still 34 less than Leclerc, 33 less than Sainz and two less than George Russell.

Until the Oscar of Azerbaijan returns, your $25.5m is better spent elsewhere.

Franco Colapinto ✅

The sensation of Franco Colapinto continued in Mexico City, as the Argentine driver finished an impressive 12th and scored eight solid F1 Fantasy points in the process.

That brings his season total — which has spanned just five races — up to 43 points. That’s 37 more than his Williams team-mate Alex Albon, 18 more than Yuki Tsunoda and four more than Pierre Gasly.

The only midfielders/back-markers Colapinto is yet to pass in the budget F1 Fantasy leaderboards are Sauber‘s Valtteri Bottas (50) and Zhou Guanyu (56). On the curves of Interlagos, Williams could have a competitive package that allows Colapinto to mix with the front-runners once again.

For a driver that costs just $7.3m, that’s an awful lot of upsides.

Yuki Tsunoda ❌

Speaking of upsides, Yuki Tsunoda hasn’t had many to speak of recently.

He’s finished with a negative F1 Fantasy score in four out of his last six race weekends and has cost players 59 points in the process — which isn’t ideal with just four rounds of racing remaining.

The Japanese driver has seemingly crumbled under the pressure of competing for a Red Bull seat against new team-mate Liam Lawson, who in his first two races back (in COTA and Mexico City) has accumulated 25 F1 Fantasy points. That’s only one less than Yuki has managed for the year.

As the Kiwi only costs $0.7m more than Tsunoda, we’d suggest trying to find a way of fitting him into your line-up instead.

My F1 Fantasy team for the Sao Paulo GP

For the Sao Paulo GP, I’ve chosen to retain my Mexico City GP line-up writes Cambridge Kisby. 

This includes Leclerc as my lead driver, who is likely to be among the front-runners at Interlagos given Ferrari’s recent form. He is joined by both Haas drivers, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg, as well as Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto.

As always, Ferrari and McLaren remain my constructors of choice.