The Budget-Building Blueprint for F1 Fantasy Success

Alex Harrington | May 2, 2024

May 7, 2023; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Williams driver Alexander Albon (23) of Thailand leads a / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Each season, F1 Fantasy teams begin on level ground with $100M to spend on five drivers and two constructors. The secret to gaining an edge as the season unfolds lies in growing our cost cap – a larger cost cap allows us to run more expensive drivers who, in turn, score more points. Let’s review the basics of F1 Fantasy value changes, take an inside look at the calculation behind value growth, and highlight some tips to growing our cost caps faster than the competition.

F1 Fantasy Price Changes at a Glance

After fantasy points are finalized for the week and F1 updates the global leaderboard, the game adjusts the value of every driver and constructor based on their performance. The bottom right-hand corner of each asset displays any price changes from the previous week, with increases indicated in blue and decreases in red.

(Photo below: An example lineup after the Chinese Grand Prix, this team grew $1.4M in value)

By Abu Dhabi 2023, the top F1 Fantasy teams amassed over $30M in additional cost cap, allowing them to afford multiple top drivers and constructors and pull away from the rest of the field. Through five races, the price change leaders include Charles Leclerc ($2.9M), Kevin Magnussen ($2.5M), and Lance Stroll ($2.3M) while Ferrari leads all constructors at $2.2M.

(Photo below: The F1 Fantasy HQ team at Abu Dhabi 2023 featured two top constructors along with Verstappen, Leclerc, and Alonso after a season of building cost cap)

Since pricing changes are so critical, how are they calculated so we can predict who will grow the fastest?

Under The Hood: F1 Fantasy’s Price Change Algorithm

A team of diehard strategists recently decoded how the game determines pricing changes and, when applied to every price change from 2023, the formula proved accurate over 99% of the time. Every driver and constructor falls into one of three pricing tiers:

• Tier A: $25.0M and above (Max Verstappen and Red Bull)
• Tier B: $15.0M - $24.9M (Sergio Perez, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, and Fernando Alonso)
• Tier C: $14.9M and below (The rest of the grid)

Next, the game calculates a normalized points ratio: each driver’s fantasy score is divided by the average score of all drivers from that race, while the same formula applies to constructors. Matching this normalized score with the pricing tier of the asset in the table below reveals the price change.

Here’s an example of Lando Norris’s price change from the Chinese Grand Prix. Norris scored 36 points while the entire grid averaged 17 points. His normalized points ratio (36 divided by 17) equals 2.12 and, since Lando’s price falls into Tier B, he gained $0.3M in value. His driver card confirms our calculation in the upper right.

Putting It All Together

Now that we understand the importance of value changes to our cost cap and how these changes are determined, we can predict which drivers and constructors will grow the fastest. While Verstappen and Red Bull lead the game in scoring, Tier A assets gain $0.2M at most and Max’s DNF at Australia led to a devastating $0.7M decrease. Their high scoring output comes with the risk of slower cost cap growth.

Meanwhile, Tier B drivers regularly grow at much as $1.0M while Tier C drivers can reach as high as $1.5M in a single weekend. By building a team with high-upside Tier B drivers (Leclerc, Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz) alongside Tier C drivers that finish around the top 10 (Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen, Nico Hulkenberg), fantasy players still score plenty of points with faster cost cap growth. 

Heading into the Miami Grand Prix, many strategists are considering a team that includes Sainz, Stroll, both Haas drivers, the Red Bull constructor, and Ferrari – along with whichever back marker fits their remaining budget. This example includes four of the six top drivers for value growth and the highest growing constructor in the game.

Not sure how to make the best use of your budget? F1 Fantasy Tools integrated a price change predictor into their Team Calculator, so fantasy strategists can select the best lineup for scoring points and gaining value based on what they can afford. Growing our cost cap is easier than ever!

Make sure to follow F1FantasyHQ.com all season long for breaking F1 Fantasy news, analysis, and tips to win your F1 Fantasy mini-leagues.