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Justin Carter's DraftKings and FanDuel DFS lineup picks for the Formula 1 São Paulo Grand Prix. Read our daily fantasy F1 advice and sleepers analysis.
Formula 1 heads to São Paulo this week for the São Paulo Grand Prix.
While Max Verstappen has clinched the title, there's still a big race for second between Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez, plus we've had a wild weekend. Kevin Magnussen won the pole for the sprint race! Mercedes won the sprint! Esteban Ocon has fastest in a practice session! Madness in Brazil!
Below you will find our Formula 1 DraftKings DFS lineup picks for 11/13/22, with the slate locking at 1:00 p.m. ET. If you have any questions or want to talk about Formula 1, you can find me on Twitter at @juscarts.
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How Does Formula 1 Fantasy Work?
If you're familiar with using DraftKings for NASCAR, this Formula 1 format is going to feel really, really different from what you're used to. It's a lot closer to the NFL single-game showdown slates than it is to anything on the NASCAR side.
So, here's how the scoring and format work. You'll pick five drivers and a constructor. One of those drivers will be your captain, who earns you 1.5-times the points but also costs 1.5-times as much as they usually cost. For the constructor, you're choosing one of the F1 teams.
So, here's how the scoring works. Your driver only gets points if they finish in the top-10. Here's a chart for how that breaks down:
| Finishing Spot | DraftKings Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 25 |
| 2 | 18 |
| 3 | 15 |
| 4 | 12 |
| 5 | 10 |
| 6 | 8 |
| 7 | 6 |
| 8 | 4 |
| 9 | 2 |
| 10 | 1 |
In addition, the driver with the fastest lap of the race gets three points. You get 0.1 points per lap led, five points for beating your teammate, one point for being classified at the finish (finished 90% of the race, essentially), and points for place differential. Finish three spots higher than your grid position and you get two points. Finish five better and you get three points. Finish 10 better to get five points. You also lose points for a negative place differential, starting at three spots.
The constructor points work the same way, with some added points if both cars do well.
It's confusing, but for Formula 1 DFS to work, it probably had to be confusing.
Now that we've gone over that, let's talk drivers. Here's what I've put together as a kind of base lineup.
Captain: George Russell ($14,700)
Starts 1st
George Russell overtook Max Verstappen on track to win the sprint race.
I repeat: we had a Mercedes car overtake Max Verstappen ON the track. And now, Russell starts Sunday's race at Interlagos from the front of the grid. It's the second time this season that Russell has started from pole. Last time was in Hungary, where he finished third after leading the first 15 laps, and 24 laps overall.
Of course, Max Verstappen ended up winning that one. Why should we expect things to be different this time?
The vibes. Okay, kidding—no, but really, the sprint race really showed us some things when it comes to Mercedes. Maybe Verstappen gets it together in the race—in fact, it's a smart bet to make—but if there's going to be a time for a non-Red Bull or Ferrari driver to win this season, this is it, and Russell's sprint performance gives him an edge over teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Constructor: Mercedes ($10,900)
After some review, the stewards didn't penalize Lewis Hamilton for an issue during the sprint race, and a Carlos Sainz penalty moves Hamilton up to the front row.
Is...is this the chance? We have an all-Mercedes front row on Sunday, and I detailed above why I like George Russell so much for this race. Instead of trying to hedge some by bringing in Red Bull as my constructor pick, I'm just going to lean into the weirdness that's been this weekend in Brazil and stack Russell and Mercedes.
Carlos Sainz ($8,600)
Starts 7th
Sainz was hit with a five grid spot penalty. He originally finished second in the sprint race, behind only George Russell.
With teammate Charles Leclerc in a battle for second in the WDC, Sainz probably won't beat him out this week, making it an uphill battle for the "defeated teammate" points. Still, Sainz has some room to move up based on his speed this weekend. It's been...a strange weekend, but I think it's probably a little notable that Sainz finished the sprint race second, while Leclerc finished it sixth. This spot could also pay off if something happens to Leclerc, which...let's be real, is always a possibility with Ferrari.
Esteban Ocon ($6,000)
Starts 17th
Just a terrible sprint race for Alpine. Ocon finished 17th, while Fernando Alonso received a penalty that dropped him to 18th.
But aside from a disastrous sprint race that featured Alonso making contact with Ocon that really messed up his race, it was a pretty solid weekend. Ocon qualified sixth on Friday and was then the fastest driver in Saturday's practice session.
Ocon has run well for most of the season, including coming close to a podium recently in Japan. He has a lot of ground to make up, but I think there's a lot of opportunity for place differential upside in this one from this team.
Sebastian Vettel ($5,600)
Starts 9th
Vettel starts this one in ninth, while his Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll starts back in 16th, giving Vettel a pretty good edge in the race for the five points for defeating your teammate.
Beyond that, Vettel has run well lately. He actually led two laps at last month's United States Grand Prix, finishing seventh in that one, and he's finished in the points in three of the last four races.
But his best skill lately has been gaining spots on race day. He's finished ahead of his starting spot in four consecutive races. Vettel's a smart driver who can keep the car clean and gain a couple spots on Sunday.
Kevin Magnussen ($4,000)
Starts 8th
Would it have been a better story if Kevin Magnussen's pole in qualifying had been for the real race and not the sprint race? Definitely. But for DFS purposes, this kind of works out for us. We know that Magnussen has a pretty quick car after his pole run, but he would have easily lost place differential points on Sunday if he had started from the actual pole.
Haas F1 also saw Mick Schumacher gain more spots than anyone in Saturday's sprint. This has a chance to be a really good weekend for Haas, and I wouldn't be shocked if Magnussen can just kind of hang around where he starts in this one.
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