Australian Grand Prix Fantasy Preview

We’re back! After having a week off, we’re finally getting cars back on track. Though it might be yet another Max Verstappen victory (though we can hope for some more competition!) that doesn’t mean the landscape stays the same for fantasy! Just a quick aside, we'll touch on daily fantasy a little bit in this article as well, so it's a bit of a combo, two-for-one type deal. So let’s dive in!

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Drivers I’m Playing

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Carlos Sainz - Sainz is returning to the grid after missing out on Saudi Arabia with appendicitis. The last time we saw him in Bahrain, he finished P3 behind only the Red Bulls. It’s fair to wonder how he would have faired had Charles Leclerc not had brake issues, but he is priced 6th amongst drivers and in the second-best car and provides a decent bit of value.

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Oscar Piastri - Piastri had a points finish during his first appearance in Australia as a rookie despite the absolute carnage the 2023 Australian GP endured. McLaren has been decent so far this season, and Piastri has shown the ability to beat Lando Norris as recently as Saudi. Piastri has the edge in pricing, but Norris may come in at a lower rostership, putting them both in play for DFS and fantasy this week.

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Nico Hulkenberg - Hulkenberg put up a great performance in 10th in Saudi Arabia as Haas appears to not be as bad as we thought. Had it not been for an issue during qualifying, he could have had an even better fantasy performance the last time we saw him. And this might be off topic, but one interesting thing about Hulkenbergs season so far is he is intimately tied to Lance Stroll. He crashed into him in Bahrain, ruining his race. But Stroll’s crash in Saudi opened up a spot in the top 10 that might not have been there otherwise. Either way, I think he’s a step above Magnussen and could be in for yet another good performance. Maybe a P7 like he had in 2023 is in the cards?

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Drivers I’m Avoiding

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Sergio Perez - Perez is priced above Max Verstappen. Yes he did make some overtakes and therefore scored more points last week, but the chances that he scores more than Max twice in a row are slim. Paying over $30M for him is just something I can’t justify doing this week.

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Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly - The two Alpine drivers are priced as if they are driving the 2023 Alpine, a fine midfield car. But they are not. Alpine has been at the back of the grid in 2024, and I doubt it will change without some major upgrades. It will be extremely difficult for either to pay off their salaries this week and it's likely they will continue to fall down in pricing.

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Guanyu Zhou - Yet another driver who is unlikely to pay off their salary price. Zhou got some help with the Stroll incident in Bahrain and was able to make some overtakes quickly and then stayed put for the majority of the race. He then had an unfortunate qualifying at Saudi Arabia where he was unable to set a lap after an incident in FP3. He was able to gain a couple of spots but only managed 18th. I think there are better driver values elsewhere if you need to pay down, be it his teammate Bottas or the cheapest of all, Logan Sargeant.

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