Untied States GP Fantasy League Preview & Strategy

The US GP is here! Below are thoughts from the GridRival team on how to set yourself up for Fantasy F1 success this weekend!

Driver Salary Storylines:

Sergio is a deal if he can make a comeback... Perez has been struggling mightily the last few weeks, seeing his value drop from $28M to $22.3M in the past three races. If Perez wants to keep his Red Bull seat, as crazy as that sounds, he’ll need to post some good results in the coming races. He’s had success at COTA, finishing in fourth last season and in third in 2021. His value should increase, which is helpful if you’re adopting a week-to-week strategy.

Piastri is setting a record for time on the “underpriced watchlist.” With only five races left in the season, we’d propose you lock him in until the end of the season. His value can still go up given McLaren’s run of form, and he’s a striking value as the ninth highest-priced driver on the grid in arguably the second-best car. He’s finished in the points in six of the last eight races and has made Q3 in seven of the last eight. It’s only a matter of time until he overtakes Fernando Alonso in pricing and potentially Perez, Russell, or one of the Ferrari’s.

Yuki Tsunoda has had a bad string of luck in recent weeks, but if nothing else, he’s putting in effort during qualifying, having qualified in 9th and 11th in the last two races. Alphatauri does not have a great car, but we think he’s going to bounce back after a crazy Qatar race. The good news is he’s the second cheapest driver on the grid. His value really can’t go down much more than it already is, and it’s likely going to go up. If you need a cheap play, why not take the shot on Tsunoda and hope for a P10 finish?

Guanyu Zhou is approaching overpriced territory. He’s not quite there yet, but it’s hard to expect the upgrades Alfa Romeo received to vault them up the standings, so much so that Zhou enters the upper end of the talent driver price range, at least for any length of time. He may still be a safe pick for a short contract or a single race but beware of adding him for any length of time.

Talent Drivers:

Of the drivers under $18M, Gasly is at the top once again, followed by Alpine teammate Estaban Ocon. It’s been a coin toss between the Alpine drivers this year, and if the pattern follows anything like we’ve seen so far, it’s Gasly’s week to shine.

If you’re looking for a little more predictability, Albon is the way to go. If you want to go even cheaper, Valtteri Bottas is not a bad bet for talent driver either. It’s tough to expect another P8, but he’s been good, aside from some struggles in Asia. Plus, it seems their upgrade package is adding some late-season pace to an otherwise struggling car.

This week’s story was written by GridRival power-user, Garrett (GarrettBFF on Discord.) His background in fantasy sports involves fantasy football, which he’s been playing for a decade now, and 2023 is his third season writing about it. He’s been doing F1 content on X (Twitter) since last year, and is super excited to write this for you!

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