RADIO
Formula 1 is back. The 2024 season begins on Saturday in Bahrain, with Max Verstappen looking to continue last year's dominance. This F1 season could look a lot like last year's, as all 20 drivers from the end of 2023 return to the teams that they drove for then.
Of course, we already have some big news for the 2025 season, as Lewis Hamilton will move from long-time home Mercedes over to Ferrari. While the 2024 silly season was calm, expect a lot of big news for 2025 throughout this season.
Below you will find our Formula 1 DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the Bahrain Grand Prix on 3/2/24, with the slate locking at 10:00 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?
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. 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 ($12,000)
Starts Third
There's some really good value with George Russell this week. The Brit qualified third, but is only the seventh-most-expensive driver on this slate. He starts six spots ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton.
The starting grid for the season opener 👀#F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/kwFLLtnFrW
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 1, 2024
This brings up a bigger question, one that we might start to have answered this weekend. With Lewis Hamilton off to Ferrari next year, will Mercedes treat Russell as their No. 1 driver this season? Will he get the preferred strategy calls? Hamilton is still the better of the two in a vacuum, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.
Russell has never had a podium here, but he was fourth at Bahrain back in the 2022 season, then finished seventh here last year.
Constructor: Ferrari ($9,400)
Ferrari cars start second and fourth on the grid this weekend, putting them in a good spot to finish as either the No. 1 or No. 2 constructor in fantasy points. The Italian team has looked fast during preseason testing and in qualifying this week and could challenge for a double podium, even if neither Ferrari driver is able to get past Max Verstappen and open the 2024 season with a victory.
Charles Leclerc ($10,000)
Starts Second
Look, 2024 will probably be like 2023, with Max Verstappen just walloping the field. But I'm just not ready to end $6,000 more on him than any other driver costs in the first week of the season, because if the other teams have closed the gap on Verstappen, then $16,000 will go down as a huge overpay.
FRONT ROW FOR CHARLES!! 👊@Charles_Leclerc starts in P2 for tomorrow’s #BahrainGP 🇧🇭 pic.twitter.com/yPvO7C2DNt
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 1, 2024
Charles Leclerc starts second on Saturday, giving him the best shot of anyone to get past Verstappen. It might not happen. It might happen and then Verstappen retakes the lead soon after. It might happen and Leclerc delivers a shocking victory to open the season. The point is, there's possibilities with Leclerc this week that make him a top play.
Fernando Alonso ($7,400)
Starts Sixth
Aston Martin started 2023 out fast, then faded as the year went on. They aren't likely going to come out in 2024 looking like a top-three team like they did in 2023, but they're not backmarkers either. This is a team that should solidly be the fifth-best in 2024, with a big gap between them and the slower teams behind them.
Alonso comes with almost guaranteed points each week because his teammate, Lance Stroll, simply isn't that good. Stroll starts 12th this week, giving Alonso a nice cushion in the race to be the best Aston Martin. Last year at Bahrain, Alonso finished third, behind the two Red Bulls.
Oscar Piastri ($7,000)
Starts Eighth
Bit of a disappointing qualifying effort from McLaren, a team that some have picked as second in the constructor battle for 2024. The two cars of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri start seventh and eighth, behind both Red Bulls, both Ferraris, and one Mercedes plus one Aston Martin.
In the mix. Plenty to play for.
— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) March 1, 2024
While Norris is the lead driver for the team, I'm high on Piastri having a big second season in Formula 1. He ended last season with four finishes in the top five and 11 finishes in the points despite a slow start that saw him earn points in just one of the first five races. He should get off to a better start to the 2024 season.
Alexander Albon ($4,200)
Starts 13th
While I expect the gap between Alexander Albon and teammate Logan Sargeant to close some in Sargeant's second F1 season, Albon is still the better driver of the two by a good bit. Combine that with Williams making some good improvements to the car this offseason and we should see Albon fighting for a spot in the points most weeks.
This weekend, Albon will fire off in 13th, while Sargeant starts 18th, ahead of only the two Alpine cars, which have both been extremely slow so far this weekend. Albon should be in the driver's seat to be the top Williams car on Saturday and has a great shot to get up and fight for a spot in the points, especially with Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda starting ahead of him. Albon should routinely outperform them.
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