RADIO
A brand new season of Formula 1 racing is upon us and the grid looks incredibly different than it did one year ago. In fact, out of the 11 F1 teams, only Aston Martin and McLaren have the same lineup this year as last year. The biggest change is that Lewis Hamilton is now at Ferrari.
The racing action gets started Sunday in Melbourne with the Australian Grand Prix. This is bound to be one of the weirdest races we've seen in a while simply because the level of change on the grid is going to lead to some unpredictable results.
Below you will find our Formula 1 DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the Australian Grand Prix on 3/16/25, with the slate locking at 12:00 a.m. EDT. If you have any questions or want to talk about Formula 1, you can find me on X at @juscarts or on Bluesky.
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Captain: Yuki Tsunoda ($6.3K)
Starts Fifth
At least early in the season, my strategy is to play as many established drivers as I can when they have new, young teammates. Adjusting to Formula 1 can be tough, so veteran drivers should have an early edge.
That was my theory before qualifying, and after qualifying I feel even better about it, because the grid shook out in a way where that exact sentiment is expressed by starting spot.
p5 babyyy!! great job by the team today! pic.twitter.com/L3HfldTOua
— 角田裕毅/Yuki Tsunoda (@yukitsunoda07) March 15, 2025
Yuki Tsunoda, the veteran driver at Racing Bulls, qualified all the way up in fifth. While I worry we could lose some place differential points because of that high starting spot, it's not like it was a fluke. Tsuoda was fourth in FP2 and ninth in FP3. He has top 10 speed.
Teammate Isack Hadjar qualified a decent 11th, so there isn't as big a gap here as there are on some other teams, but Tsunoda should be easily favored to earn Racing Bulls' "defeated teammate" points.
Constructor: McLaren ($12.0K)
McLaren scored a front-row lockout this weekend. Not only that, the orange-clad team topped the speed chart in two of the three practice sessions and in the one it didn't, its drivers were second and third quickest.
With Red Bull employing a young Liam Lawson beside Max Verstappen, McLaren has a shot to run away with the constructor title. I expect this $12.0K price tag to rise quickly to the point where playing McLaren is untenable in DFS, but for now the price is just right to jump on this play.
Lando Norris ($12.0K)
Starts First
To continue the thought from the McLaren section, I'd also expect Lando Norris to see his price rise too. For now though, you can stack McLaren with Norris for $24.0K. That's investing a lot in the pairing, but it's worth it.
LANDO NORRIS TAKES POLE POSITION IN AUSTRALIA 👏👏#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/k6PwYVHBHU
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 15, 2025
Norris was the fastest driver in all three qualifying sessions. Last year's runner-up in the driver's championship is the favorite on Sunday and while Verstappen could pose a challenge, the McLarens just feel a step ahead to open the year.
You could save some money and pivot to Norris's McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri as both drivers will likely be going for the win this early in the season, but Norris has proven to be the better driver at the moment.
George Russell ($9.6K)
Starts Fourth
The gap between young and old drivers might not be more apparent anywhere else than Mercedes, where George Russell qualified fourth and rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli qualified 16th.
Starting P4 in Aus. Solid first quali of the season. Onwards to race day 🏁 pic.twitter.com/3KUpwHyY5z
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) March 15, 2025
(Quick aside: I lied a little in that last paragraph. The gap at Red Bull between Verstappen and Liam Lawson is bigger, but Lawson has multiple F1 starts across multiple seasons, so I'm not counting him when thinking about the gap between veterans and rookies.)
Russell's advantage on the grid almost assures him of earning the "defeated teammate" points as long as he doesn't suffer a mechanical failure or a crash.
Alexander Albon ($5.2K)
Starts Sixth
Williams is probably the team I'm most fascinated by heading into 2025. Alexander Albon has been chugging away as the team's best driver for a few years now, but in the offseason the team added Carlos Sainz to the stable as well.
Suddenly, this is a really intriguing team. Could Williams have a shot to finish fifth in the constructor battle after McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes? Maybe!
Huge effort @williamsracing well done team!!! So happy with that one 🤝 P6 on the grid, feeling good about tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/QTSIdbGBf5
— Alex Albon (@alex_albon) March 15, 2025
This weekend, I prefer playing Albon for two reasons. First is that he was fifth in qualifying while Sainz was 10th. Both cars have been pretty even all weekend with Sainz just a tad faster, but the five-spot advantage gives Albon an early leg up.
The bigger reason though is that Albon costs $5.2K on DraftKings while Sainz is $6.6K. Sainz is being priced like he'll be the runaway leader of Williams, but the gap is much closer than the pricing indicates.
Pierre Gasly ($4.8K)
Starts Ninth
Mad respect entering 2025 for Pierre Gasly, because he's about to have an awkward year at Alpine. Gasly is paired with rookie driver Jack Doohan, but there are already rumors that Doohan is on the hot seat before he's even started his first race of 2025.
Alpine is supposedly targeting Franco Colapinto to replace Doohan at some point this season. It's a weird situation, but it should also mean that Gasly is comfortably the favorite to earn the "defeated teammate" points every week.
Back in the top ten 🔟
Let's go, @PierreGASLY 👏 pic.twitter.com/eIItQwfKDs
— BWT Alpine Formula One Team (@AlpineF1Team) March 15, 2025
This weekend, Gasly starts ninth. He was relatively slow Friday, but found speed on Saturday, going 12th in FP3 before advancing all the way to Q3 in qualifying.
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, and there are points for place differential.
Finish three spots higher than your grid position, and you will 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.
