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Justin Carter's DraftKings and FanDuel DFS lineup picks for the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Read our daily fantasy F1 advice and sleepers analysis.
This is it: the Formula 1 season comes to an end on Sunday in Abu Dhabi. And while Max Verstappen has already locked up the title, the battle for second place is still on, as Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc are in a dead heat.
Last week, we finally saw a team that wasn't Red Bull or Ferrari win a race, as George Russell took Mercedes to its first win of 2022, and the first win of his career. But with Red Bull and Ferrari locked into the top two rows this week, it looks like we'll be heading back to the same old, same old.
Below you will find our Formula 1 DraftKings DFS lineup picks for 11/20/22, with the slate locking at 8:00 a.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: Sergio Perez ($14,100)
Starts 2nd
Making Perez your captain is risky, because it really depends on Max Verstappen helping his teammate. Last week in Brazil, that was very much not the case, as Red Bull asked Max to let Checo past him late in the race, which Max didn't do.
I imagine there have been a lot of conversations with Red Bull this weekend about what's best for the team, and that's making sure Perez secures P2 in the driver's championship. The best way for that to happen is to have Perez in front, with Verstappen offering a buffer between him and Charles Leclerc, with helps ensure that Leclerc can't get past Verstappen and challenge Perez.
Sure, that might not happen! And if the two Red Bulls have a big lead over the Ferrari's late, Verstappen could make a move for the win. But I'd expect Perez to lead a good number of laps here and I've been betting all week on him to win this race—the odds have really lowered after his qualifying run, so a lot of that betting value is gone now.
Constructor: Red Bull ($12,500)
Red Bull has been the best team in F1 this year and they have a lot on the line here. They've also been faster than Ferrari and Mercedes all weekend. I don't really have much else to add here that I didn't mention above in the Perez section. Yes, there's some drama at Red Bull right now, but that drama shouldn't cause an issue when something as important as second-place in the overall standings is on the line.
Carlos Sainz ($8,800)
Starts 4th
It feels weird to play Sainz when his whole goal in this race will be to help his teammate finish ahead of him, but I think there's some value here at this price, even if he probably needs Leclerc to have a mechanical issue or crash to earn the five points for defeating a teammate.
But here's the thing: Leclerc is going to be in a fight all race long. There's going to be a lot more opportunities for something to go wrong with Leclerc than there is with Sainz, and well...sometimes that's all it takes, right?
Sebastian Vettel ($6,200)
Starts 9th
This is it for Vettel, who will make his final Formula 1 start on Sunday—or, at least, his final planned F1 start, since you never know when things could change.
While Vettel has finished outside the points the last two races, I'm high on his chance to end his F1 career on a good note. Before these last two races, Vettel had three finishes in a row in the top 10, and he's beat his teammate in three of the last four races.
Another plus is that he starts five spots above teammate Lance Stroll, which will make it easier for Vettel to earn those five points.
Kevin Magnussen ($4,800)
Starts 16th
Magnussen starts three spots behind teammate Mick Schumacher, but he's been the better driver, even if some bad luck has struck at times, like when he crashed out last weekend in Brazil after claiming the pole.
Before that race though, Magnussen had beaten Mick Schumacher three races in a row. I'd be surprised if Magnussen doesn't beat Schumacher in this one, especially with Schumacher departing Haas after this season—the team is going to make sure Magnussen is in the best position on Sunday.
Yuki Tsunoda ($3,400)
Starts 12th
Obviously a risky play here, but Tsunoda has a five spot advantage on the starting grid over teammate Pierre Gasly, so if we're taking a risk on one of the really cheap drivers, I think it should be Tsunoda. He's clearly got more upside than Guanyu Zhou or Nicholas Latifi, and if we're going to play Magnussen, we probably want to avoid also playing Magnussen's Haas F1 teammate, Mick Schumacher.
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