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Max Verstappen has clinched his fourth consecutive Formula 1 championship, but that doesn't mean the fight is over. With two races to go, the constructor title is still up for grabs.
In Saturday's Sprint race, McLaren staked its claim to the title, earning a one-two finish. It was a controversial one-two, though, as Lando Norris let Oscar Piastri pass him on the last lap, repaying a favor from earlier in the season. Ahh, team orders!
Below you will find our Formula 1 DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the Qatar Grand Prix on 12/1/24, with the slate locking at 11:00 a.m. EST. If you have any questions or want to talk about Formula 1, you can find me on X at @juscarts.
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Captain: Oscar Piastri ($15.6K)
Starts Fourth
Oscar Piastri didn't necessarily earn the win on Saturday in the Sprint, as he was essentially gifted it by teammate Lando Norris. Still, the McLaren cars were the class of the field and it makes a lot of sense to captain one of them.
After their position swap in Brazil, Lando Norris pays the favour back to Oscar Piastri in Qatar 🔀#F1Sprint #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/9L6l1o8yay
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 30, 2024
For the purposes of lineup building, Oscar Piastri gives you a little more flexibility, which is why I'm going with him here. He's been just a hair behind Norris all weekend, minus the end of the Sprint, but he's still consistently been among the fastest cars since rolling out for FP1.
Piastri finished second here in 2023, one spot ahead of Norris.
Constructor: Sauber ($3.0K)
Yeah, we're punting on the constructor pick this week by going with the cheapest play on the slate, Sauber. But I do think there's a chance the Sauber team scores some points for us.
The two Saubers start 12th and 13th on Sunday, which is really solid considering where the team usually is. There are four elite teams in F1 right now, but beyond that, things feel level. Sauber was the clear last place team, but this weekend they're the only team outside the elite ones with two drivers starting in the top 13.
Max Verstappen ($12.6K)
Starts Second
Max Verstappen qualified on the pole but was hit with a one-spot grid penalty, dropping the 2024 F1 champion to second. He ran a disappointing eighth in the Sprint, but this Red Bull team found some speed in qualifying.
DOC 43 - Summons - Car 1 - Alleged driving unnecessarily slowly https://t.co/nVLPv627jK #QatarGP #F1 #FIA pic.twitter.com/jhvk9o4xnQ
— FIA (@fia) November 30, 2024
Both races here at this track have been won by the polesitter. Technically, that's George Russell, but Verstappen will have a shot to get the early lead. Last year, Verstappen led Lap 1 and then never relinquished that lead, pacing the field for all 57 laps.
And the year before, Lewis Hamilton had the pole and also led every single lap, so whoever leads after that first lap has a great shot to go on to win the race.
George Russell ($10.6K)
Starts First
The argument for George Russell is basically the same as the argument for Verstappen, which is that polesitters are 2-for-2 here and there's never been a pass for the lead at this track, so whoever leads Lap 1 might just go on to dominate.
Russell has been quick all weekend. He was third in the Sprint behind the two McLarens and then was fast again in qualifying, capturing the second spot on the grid and moving up after the Verstappen penalty.
Pierre Gasly ($5.0K)
Starts 11th
Alpine has performed well lately, including a double podium at Interlagos. Last weekend in Vegas should have been another good weekend for the team after Pierre Gasly qualified third, but an engine issue forced Gasly out of the race just 15 laps in, preventing him from extending his streak of points finishes to three races.
But Gasly has another shot at points this weekend, as he'll start just outside the top 10 in 11th. Meanwhile, teammate Esteban Ocon brings up the rear of the field in 20th, putting Gasly in a great spot to earn five points for finishing as the top Alpine car.
Guanyu Zhou ($3.2K)
Starts 12th
Might as well close our lineup out with a Sauber driver, since we're using the team as our constructor play. Like I mentioned above, 2024 has been awful for this team, but it feels like Guanyu Zhou has figured a little something out recently, posting three finishes of 15th or better in a row.
Lap time differences between team mates in Q2:
Max Verstappen -0.738s Sergio Perez
Fernando Alonso -0.703s Lance Stroll
Zhou Guanyu -0.23s Valtteri Bottas
Charles Leclerc -0.199s Carlos Sainz Jnr
Lando Norris -0.138s Oscar Piastri
George Russell -0.026s Lewis Hamilton#F1— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) November 30, 2024
Zhou starts a season-best 12th this week and has his best chance all year of scoring his first points of the campaign. I'm not super confident here, but going with the Sauber stack lets you get three elite plays in your lineup with one in your captain spot, so...worth it?
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 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.
