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

With only six rounds of the season remaining, time is running out to make your play in this year’s F1 Fantasy league tables as the 2024 US Grand Prix approaches.

Just as Max Verstappen currently has a sizeable cushion in the drivers’ championship, so Rahim Damji and his Porsche F1 team has pulled out a lead in the F1 Fantasy Global table: his haul of 4439 points is 35 more than his closest rival.

But with the rest of the top ten covered by just 24 points, everything is still to play for. That also goes for the Motor Sport Magazine league, where just six points separate leader Grant Baker from second-placed Andrew Harris.

Verstappen is $4.6m more than Norris but brings added extras

Many players will be looking to take risks in an all-or-nothing gamble for F1 Fantasy victory. And that may well be Lando Norris’s only hope of wresting the title from Verstappen this year,

The McLaren driver needs to outscore the reigning champion by at least 8.6 points every race weekend. So should Norris win this weekend’s United States GP in an effort to stay on course, he’d need Verstappen to finish at least third or lower. It’s a tall order, and based on his past performances when the pressure has been at its peak, it may be a stretch too far for McLaren’s golden boy.

From failing to capitalise on pole position starts at the Hungaroring and Monza to clipping the wall during a runaway victory in Singapore, Norris has not been an entirely safe pair of hands in the pacy McLaren. As the need to claw more points away from Verstappen grows, so will the potential for mistakes. And that could have an impact on his Fantasy points scores in the coming races.

So, if you’re looking for a reliable source of points, we’d recommend swapping out Norris and — if he’s not already in your team — and replacing him with Max Verstappen, who can drive well within his limits to secure the championship.

Since his last win at the Spanish Grand Prix in June, Verstappen has still returned an average of just over 24 points per race, which is less than Norris’s average of 31 over the same period but, we would say, a more dependable source of points over the coming races.

For $31.6m, Verstappen is $4.6m more than Norris but also brings added extras, including the experience of closing out a world championship — a quality that could pay off big time should Norris begin to waver under the pressure.

Overall, there are few downsides to adding Verstappen to your F1 Fantasy line-up — the only problem is who to pair him with… Read on for our tips and predictions for the United States 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.

If you’re struggling to find all of the F1 Fantasy Leagues, go the the ‘Leagues’ tab at the top of the app or website. Click on the dropdown menu at the top and select ‘Public Leagues’. The Global League, which includes every player, is listed under ‘Starter Leagues’.

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How to score the most F1 Fantasy points at the United States GP

This United States GP weekend also hosts a sprint race, 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 COTA’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 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 Verstappen has been a force to be reckoned with on US soil in the past — having won six of the last seven Stateside races — his $31.6m price tag does somewhat restrict which drivers you can pick to partner him.

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 $37m to fill out the rest of your line-up with a blend of experience and rookie pace.

 

Franco Colapinto ✅

Franco Colapinto has been quick to make a lasting impression after stepping in to replace Logan Sargeant at Williams from the Italian GP. The Argentine driver has amassed 26 F1 Fantasy points from three races so far — 13 more than team-mate Alex Albon — and has even tallied 13 overtakes in a struggling Williams.

With an unconfirmed future, Colapinto will be hoping to capitalise on his form in the hope of securing a full-time seat at Sauber for 2025. Should he do so, you could only benefit from having the red hot rookie in your F1 Fantasy line-up. And for only $6.3m, he’s an absolute bargain.

 

Oscar Piastri ❌

It’s tempting to have at least one McLaren driver in your F1 Fantasy line-up — given the current form of the Woking outfit.

With the team now leading the constructors’ standings, the team could now divert more attention toward Norris’s fight in the drivers’ world championship — which could only spell bad news for Oscar Piastri.

Even if the Aussie shows good pace in COTA, it’s likely he’ll be asked to divert his energy toward stopping Verstappen rather than winning any races across the weekend. Giving up positions for Norris or slowing down the field purposely could result in lost places as well as late-race accidents — both of which could severely hurt Piastri’s point-scoring ability.

 

Esteban Ocon ✅

Esteban Ocon features in just 13% of all F1 Fantasy squads, but could he be a hidden gem?

The Frenchman’s final season with Alpine has had little upside, with his lowest points coming in Monte Carlo where he crashed into his team-mate Pierre Gasly. But since his moment of madness, Ocon has consistently delivered — from an F1 Fantasy standpoint at least.

Over the last ten rounds he’s scored 67 points compared to Gasly’s seven while also completing the fourth-most overtakes of any driver on the grid (81). For $12.3m, Ocon could be a worthy yet relatively cheap addition to your F1 Fantasy line-up.

 

Liam Lawson 🤔

Liam Lawson will make a return to Formula 1 this weekend with RB — replacing the dismissed Daniel Ricciardo.

The Kiwi performed brilliantly during his reserve stint for the team last year, but having been out of the F1 cockpit for over a year it remains to be seen whether or not he’s retained his red hot form.

If you’re feeling optimistic and you can find space for Lawson within your limited budget, he’s worth the gamble despite a punchy valuation. It’s not quite as askew as the $15m Oliver Bearman was priced at ahead of his stand-in drive for Kevin Magnussen at Baku, but Lawson’s $10.2m cost is higher than both Sauber and Williams drivers, and identical to that of Yuki Tsunoda — who is in rotten form with a total score of -35 points in the past four races

Either way, be sure to remove Ricciardo if he’s part of your current squad. Failing to do so before Saturday’s 7pm deadline will result in a 20 point penalty.

 

My F1 Fantasy team for the US GP

I’ve gone all-in on Verstappen in the US, writes Cambridge Kisby, as the Dutchman replaces Oscar Piastri as my lead driver. To afford the reigning champion, I’ve also sold Sergio Perez.

The rest of my line-up remains mostly the same, with Nico Hülkenberg, Franco Colapinto and Zhou Guanyu joined by new addition Esteban Ocon.

Ferrari and McLaren remain my constructors of choice.