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Justin Carter's DraftKings and FanDuel DFS lineup picks for the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix. Read our daily fantasy Formula 1 advice and sleepers analysis.
Who's ready for some Formula 1 DFS? This week, the circuit will run the Canadian Grand Prix, which returns for the first time since 2019, when Lewis Hamilton won this race.
This week could be chaotic. Sergio Perez starts 13th. Charles Leclerc starts 15th. Max Verstappen might run away with this, but things behind him will be weird.
Below you will find our Formula 1 DraftKings DFS lineup picks for 6/19/22, with the slate locking at 2:00 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 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. And bare with me, as this whole F1 fantasy thing is new to all of us.
Captain: Max Verstappen ($16,800)
Starts 1st
You almost have to captain Verstappen, right? Perez and Leclerc have the place differential upside, but the most points you can get from that is five. The race winner gets 25 points for winning. Finishing second and getting the full PD points doesn't get you up to 25 points, and that's not even factoring in all the points for laps led that Verstappen should get.
This is a chalky play, but there's really no reason to think Verstappen won't lead this race in scoring by a wide margin. He has five wins already this season and his biggest competition is buried in the field.
Constructor: Alphine F1 Team ($5,000)
For the first time in months, I'm not stacking my captain and constructor. One reason is that the price of Verstappen and Red Bull together is prohibitively expensive.
Fernando Alonso starts 2nd and Esteban Ocon starts 7th in this race. If there's a week for a surprising team to break the Red Bull and Ferrari stranglehold, this could be it. I also considered Haas as a deep sleeper at constructor since both of its drivers qualified well too, but I ultimately thought that the money saved there didn't justify losing the race-winning upside you get with Alpine.
Charles Leclerc ($10,200)
Starts 19th
Leclerc is scored as starting 19th for fantasy purposes. He obviously has one of the four best cars in Formula 1. Gaining 10 spots in a race nets you five place differential points, and Leclerc should be able to get those maximum PD points barring an issue with the car, as his worst finish this season that wasn't a DNF for mechanical reasons was a sixth-place finish at Imola. Navigating all this traffic will be tough, but I expect a solid result for Leclerc, which will pay off for your fantasy team.
Fernando Alonso ($6,800)
Starts 2nd
Max Verstappen is the clear favorite to win this race. But Alonso is right there, ready to pounce as he starts second. He's a sneaky-good captain pick if you're feeling risky or a good normal pick if you just think the speed he's shown this weekend is real. He was fastest in the final practice and top five in all three of the practice sessions. Could we get our first non-Red Bull or Ferrari winner since December?
Daniel Ricciardo ($5,600)
Starts 9th
Boring choice here, but Ricciardo seems to be getting progressively better and was eighth at Azerbaijan. He starts five spots ahead of his McLaren teammate Lando Norris so he'll have the early advantage in earning those points for beating your teammate.
Ricciardo was fifth-fastest in the final session, though that was an odd session because of weather. Verstappen was ninth, for instance. Still, Ricciardo has looked solid this weekend and should be able to get a top 10 here, which would score you some DFS points.
Kevin Magnussen ($5,200)
Starts 5th
Both Haas cars were fast in qualifying, with Magnussen starting fifth and Mick Schumacher starting sixth. With how cheap they are, I love the idea of playing one of them.
Of the two, Magnussen is the safer play. He was slowest in Practice 1 of every driver, but beat Schumacher in the other two practice sessions. Neither driver averages many fantasy points per race, but Magnussen has been the victim of mechanical issues, with three DNFs. When the car is working, he has three finishes inside the top 10. Schumacher has just one DNF, but his best finish is only 11th.
