In 2022, intermittent rainfall on Saturday forced chaos upon qualifying. Fernando Alonso showed his true qualities as a rain master, besting Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton to second on the grid behind Verstappen. A little further back, Haas had perhaps its best combined qualifying session to date, with both cars qualifying inside the top six, whilst Perez failed to reach Q3 – crashing at Turn 3 on a flying lap.
With rain forecast once again for this weekend’s round of racing, more unpredictable sessions could be in store along with some big F1 Fantasy points on offer – just as long as you pick the right strategy!
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Main contenders
Max Verstappen
$27.6m ↑0.1m |
Verstappen’s continued success at the top of F1 has made him an increasingly bigger investment – now costing a whopping $27.6m if you want the Dutchman in your line-up. But, in fairness, he’s proven to be worth every penny, capturing five race wins, four pole positions and 314 F1 Fantasy points so far this season. He’s perhaps destined to capture a sixth victory Canada – just as long he avoids a meeting with the Wall of Champions! |
Fernando Alonso
$9.4m |
Fernando Alonso suffered a minor setback in Spain, where car performance held him to a sixth-place finish behind team-mate Lance Stroll. It wasn’t the home race he would have wanted but was adamant that it was the last race he would miss out on the podium. Having qualified second in Canada last year with an inconsistent Alpine through ever-changing weather conditions, pole position and a race win may not be too far out of reach for Alonso – who for $9.4m remains an absolute bargain. |
Sergio Perez
$18.4m |
Following a nightmare performance in Monaco and an equally poor performance during qualifying in Spain, Sergio Perez’s hopes at a title challenge are dwindling – but not dead.
The Mexican will need a strong performance across the weekend in order to close the gap to his team-mate Verstappen whilst ensuring he doesn’t lose F1 Fantasy players any more precious points. |
Ones to watch
Charles Leclerc
$21.2m |
Last year’s Canadian Grand Prix was effectively the start of a very slippery slope for Charles Leclerc and his hopes of challenging Verstappen for a F1 world title – choosing to replace key engine parts that effectively put the top step out of reach.
In 2023, it’s a similar story, with the Monegasque driver currently sat seventh in the drivers’ standings and only a single podium appearance to his name. But although the SF-23 has proven to be a handful, qualifying has continued to be Leclerc’s strong-point – capturing pole position in Azerbaijan – and last year’s visit to Montreal was one of the rare occasions where Ferrari’s race pace was among the front-runners. If Leclerc can add both together in 2023, he could be a cheaper alternative to Verstappen if you’re wanting a big point payout. |
Lance Stroll
$7.6m |
Following a string of poor performances, Lance Stroll seemed to bounce back and finally find his true form for Aston Martin, finishing fifth in Spain ahead of his heavily decorated team-mate.
This may be a sign of things to come and with wet weather expected for this weekend, a debut podium on home soil could be on the cards. For $7.6m, he is another cheap option if you’ve spent the majority of the budget on the RB19 and its drivers, but could pay off in the long run if Aston are able to close the gap in performance. |
Esteban Ocon
$9.4m |
After failing to finish in Bahrain and Australia, Esteban Ocon has bounced back to find form that has made him one of the grid’s best mid-range options.
His performance and podium in Monaco saw his value jump to $9.4m – still a very affordable price for a driver who consistently finds himself inside the top ten, has earned 48 Fantasy points so far and can fight for higher positions when some of the front runners begin to struggle. In fact, he should be in much more F1 Fantasy lineups, but he happens to be exactly the same price as Alonso… |
Big value additions
Lewis Hamilton
$24m |
Lewis Hamilton appeared to be in high spirits after his 193rd career podium at the Spanish GP – a mood that will only benefit his performance going forward in a Mercedes that has found new life.
For $24m, the seven-time world champion is an investment, costing more than Leclerc, Perez and team-mate George Russell, but he’s also been the fourth most valuable F1 Fantasy point scorer this season. If you can fit him in your line-up alongside a rampant Red Bull, he could probably be worth the inflated price tag. |
Carlos Sainz
$17.2m |
Although many regard him as Ferrari’s second-best option in terms of its driver line-up, Carlos Sainz is currently the team’s leading man – finishing inside the top six in five out of the first seven races and sat sixth in the drivers’ standings.
Sainz is leading on the F1 Fantasy scoreboard too, having captured 105 points compared to Leclerc’s 76 – all for $4m less. If you’re looking to go in a different direction with your Fantasy lineup, the Spaniard could be a value new member – having been picked by just 23% of F1 Fantasy players despite costing less than Verstappen, Perez, Hamilton, Russell and his Monegasque team-mate. |
Zhou Guanyu
$4.7m |
Very quietly, Zhou Guanyu is becoming one of the best bang-for-your-buck options F1 Fantasy has to offer.
He has only finished inside the top ten twice in 2023, but for just $4.7m, his performance in the midfield has earned him 54 F1 Fantasy points – more than Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon and experienced team-mate Valtteri Bottas! He hasn’t reached Alonso-esque levels just yet in terms of a bargain, but if you’re struggling to fill that final spot, Zhou is the driver to pick right now. |
Honorary mentions
Alex Albon has had a rough start to his 2023 campaign, currently sat 18th in the drivers’ standings and at the very bottom of the F1 Fantasy points list. But it could be turning around pretty soon. Williams has applied some exciting new upgrades to Albon’s car for the Canadian Grand Prix, with the hopes it can once again join the midfield battle. For $4.9m, Albon has been more of a deadweight on F1 Fantasy teams up to this point (currently sat on a season points total of -13) but he could quickly become valuable if Williams find crucial performance.
Drivers and teams to avoid
Although we’ve already had a few spells of wet weather throughout the 2023 campaign, Canada could be the first full-wet weekend. Although this should allow drivers to get plenty of practice, it also opens the door to plenty of mistakes, meaning you should probably avoid picking inexperience for this round.
Nyck de Vries and Logan Sargeant are still finding their feet against established team-mates and the pressure to make an impression could force an error and cost critical Fantasy points.
F1 Fantasy chips – which ones to use
Wildcard
We’re seven races in to the 2023 F1 season, and if you find yourself at the bottom of the F1 Fantasy leaderboards, now is the time to activate the Wildcard chip – allowing you to make unlimited changes to your team and completely switch up the strategy. This is especially handy if you’ve selected McLaren or Haas: teams with impressive driver line-ups but lack the car performance to fight further up the grid. Switch them out for Red Bull or Mercedes and suddenly you may find yourself back on track.
Final Fix
Wet qualifying has the potential to throw up a very random grid order – so take full advantage with Final Fix. Activate after qualifying ends to make a single change to your line-up ahead of the race to take advantage of a surprise front runner and lock in a good points finish ahead of race day.
2023 Canadian Grand Prix – who we’re picking
We’ve kept an identical line-up for this weekends grand prix, as we aim to take advantage of Leclerc’s one-lap qualifying pace and Verstappen’s imperious form.
Click here to see our picks for the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix
Drivers
Max Verstappen – $27.6m
Charles Leclerc – $21.2m
Fernando Alonso – $9.4m
George Russell – $18.6m
Pierre Gasly – $8.1m
Constructors
Alpine – $10m
Aston Martin – $7m
Total spent * – $99.9m
Current points total – 1686
*Some driver values have since changed as a result of their performances