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Formula 1 returns from the summer break this weekend for the Dutch Grand Prix. This race returned to the schedule in 2021 after a decades-long absence, with Max Verstappen winning all three times so far. Verstappen starts second on Sunday, but his Red Bull trailed Lando Norris's McLaren majorly in speed during qualifying.
Verstappen remains the points leader and the clear favorite to take home a fourth consecutive championship, but the rest of the field has closed the gap. Verstappen, who at the start of the season looked like he might win 20-plus races, has failed to win the last four F1 races. It's his longest winless stretch since the 2020 season.
Below you will find our Formula 1 DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the Dutch Grand Prix on 8/25/24, with the slate locking at 9:00 a.m. EDT. If you have any questions or want to talk about Formula 1, you can find me on Twitter at @juscarts.
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Captain: George Russell ($15.0K)
Starts Fourth
A grid penalty puts George Russell's Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton back in 12th at the start of this race. Zandvoort is one of the smallest tracks on the circuit, so I wouldn't expect a ton of passing.
Last year, the three drivers who started in the top 10 and then didn't finish there all had issues during the race. It's going to be tough for Hamilton to get past Russell, making him a safer captain than a driver who doesn't have such a huge grid advantage.
Constructor: Aston Martin ($4.0K)
I like the value with Aston Martin as they're one of three constructors this weekend with both cars starting in the top 10. The team isn't running nearly as well as it was at the start of the season, but there have been flashes of speed lately, including a double points result at the British Grand Prix.
Lando Norris ($13.0K)
Starts First
Unfortunately, Lando Norris now carries with him the same issue Max Verstappen does, which is that his salary has gotten so high that using him as a captain gets really tricky. Still, he should be the favorite to win this race on Sunday, so I want him in my lineups.
POLE...AGAIN! 🙌@LandoNorris seals ANOTHER Pole position! 👏#DutchGP 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/5foMk7hcSH
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) August 24, 2024
The McLaren cars have been faster than the Red Bulls lately, but Norris hasn't managed to translate that into a victory since Miami. He's come close though, crashing while racing for the lead in the Austrian Grand Prix and then having podiums at the British GP and Hungarian GP.
He was significantly faster than Verstappen in qualifying and should have a great chance to win from the pole, especially considering the last three races here were won from the pole.
Charles Leclerc ($9.0K)
Starts Sixth
As was the case with George Russell, part of the appeal here with Charles Leclerc is how far ahead of his teammate he starts the race. Leclerc starts sixth while Carlos Sainz Jr. starts back in 11th.
Leclerc has led laps in the last two GPs, including leading four laps on his way to a podium last time out in Belgium. While I don't expect him to be in the battle for the win on Sunday, I do think he can gain one or two spots and deliver a solid result for Ferrari.
Nico Hulkenberg ($4.8K)
Starts 14th
Nico Hulkenberg finished behind teammate Kevin Magnussen in Belgium. That marked the end of an 11-race streak of being the top Haas car. The Belgian Grand Prix was a disaster of bad strategy and just overall struggles for Hulkenberg, and I don't anticipate that being the case this weekend.
If he keeps the car clean, he should at least get you five points for defeating his teammate. That's a win at $4.8K.
Pierre Gasly ($3.8K)
Starts 10th
Pierre Gasly was able to get his Alpine machine into Q3 on Saturday, which puts him seven spots ahead of teammate Esteban Ocon on the grid.
Entering this weekend, Gasly had a couple of bad results in a row, but before that, he had a streak of four consecutive races where he finished in the points and ahead of Ocon. There's definitely a chance he'll be able to repeat both feats on Sunday at the Dutch Grand Prix.
“Beautiful lap. Let’s keep going guys.”
Pierre is through to Q3 💪👏 pic.twitter.com/KFxPAzguQe
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) August 24, 2024
(One note on Gasly: don't read too much into him being the fastest driver in FP3. A long red flag for a Logan Sargeant crash and wet conditions really shook things up during that session. Still, he was able to get to the final round of qualifying, something the second and third fastest cars in FP3 couldn't manage.)
How Does Formula 1 Fantasy Work?
Here's how the scoring and format work for F1 DFS on DraftKings. 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, considering the huge gaps in speed between various teams and the small driver pool.
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