Saudi Arabia GP Daily Fantasy Picks

Last week did not go so hot for me in DFS. I had rostered Bottas, Sergeant, and Hulkenberg quite heavily, and naturally, all three suffered a bad race for one reason or another. It’s not the most fun way to start off the year, but it is important to remember it’s a long season. Things like that happen. A driver you roster will have a bad race at some point. The key is to keep finding values and playing the game effectively and success will come.

With that in mind, let’s get into some daily fantasy picks for the Saudi Arabia GP.

‍

Drivers I’m Playing

Carlos Sainz - He might not be quite as good of a value as last week, but playing Sainz and advocating for him over Leclerc ended up being one of my best calls on the week. I do think Leclerc will rebound this weekend after having brake issues in Bahrain, but I still think that Sainz has a similar ceiling and can put up some points for a discount.

Alex Albon - Alex was near the peak of his 2023 value during Bahrain. He suffered a pretty significant drop in price after finishing a mere 15th in the race, but I think that presents an opportunity. The one caution I have with Albon is I think he will be a fairly popular play, and unless you get different elsewhere, you could be stuck with a lineup that’s much like everyone else and end up having a pedestrian week.

Valtteri Bottas - I’m doubling down on Bottas this week. And for that matter, Sergeant, and Hulkenberg are all guys I’m willing to play again, both for regular leagues and in daily fantasy. Bottas and Zhou flip-flopped race results a lot last year, and I expect that to continue. Bottas got unlucky at the start and was held up by the Stroll-Hulkenberg collision with Zhou slipping by and the pack getting away from him. Then the wheel-nut issue caused what felt like a 2-day pitstop. It can’t get much worse for him, and I think he’s in for a bounce-back.

‍

Drivers I’m Avoiding

Sergio Perez - If I’m playing a driver that expensive, I’m playing Max. He’s as close to a sure thing as you can get. And as good as Perez is, there is no guarantee he will keep someone like Sainz, Leclerc, Norris, or whomever among the top challengers, behind him. 

Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon -  They are simply too expensive to play. You can play either Albon or Stroll instead, who are cheaper and present a higher ceiling. Alpine looks like a dumpster fire right now, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better overnight.

Guanyu Zhou - He’s $11M right now, and there are other drivers I like more at that price or below it. To be fair to him, he drove well in Bahrain and took advantage of other drivers struggling around him. However, I’m not confident he’ll have quite the repeat performance with other teams with a little more potential figuring out their cars going into the second race weekend.

‍

And with that, that will do it! Thanks for stopping by and have fun building your lineups, go win some money!

‍