F1 Fantasy: Piastri wins big, Ferrari flop at Zandvoort

Piastri may have led on merit from lights-to-flag, but his potentially decisive title moment happened in teammate Lando Norris’ car. Having fought his way past Max Verstappen to regain second, the Brit looked on course to pile pressure onto Piastri. Instead, his engine let go, leaving his title hopes in tatters—and his F1 Fantasy points total at -5 for the weekend.

Usual frontrunners Piastri and Verstappen picked up 45 & 29 F1 Fantasy points each, while surprise podium finisher Isack Hadjar scored a hugely impressive 33 in-game points.

However, things went less well for the Scuderia. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc crashed out on the same banked corner, leaving them with a combined fantasy points total of -29. To be fair, Leclerc also gifted fans some outstanding meme material, staring out to sea near the racetrack after retiring. But he’ll want to forget this absolute horrorshow ASAP.

Whenever one of Formula 1’s frontrunners has a mare, it creates an opportunity for one of the midfield outfits to snatch a handful of valuable points. As it turned out, Ferrari and Norris both struck out on the same weekend, opening the door for Haas, Aston Martin, Williams and Racing Bulls.

No doubt, Hadjar’s first podium was hugely impressive—and it will have put him firmly on Red Bull’s radar. But many others also shone (and took advantage of three safety cars) to clinch unexpected top-ten finishes. Ollie Bearman scored for the first time since Bahrain, going long with his pit strategy to take sixth place and 27 F1 Fantasy points.

His Haas teammate did similarly well with the same strategy, earning him 18 in-game points, while Aston Martin made up for a shocking qualifying to score a brilliant double-points finish. Fernando Alonso dropped to 13th on lap one but fought back to eighth, while Lance Stroll came from 19th to finish an incredible seventh for 21 points in F1 Fantasy.

Okay, Alonso was quick to point out his own poor strategy during the race. But just look what Stroll can achieve when doesn't have a disinterested demeanor or drop it into the barriers!

Unlike his teammate, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson failed to capitalize on the opportunities presented at Zandvoort, instead crashing into Carlos Sainz. While the Spaniard was stunned about getting a penalty for the incident, replays showed that it was never his corner.

Other losers in this week’s F1 Fantasy include KICK Sauber. Despite coming home with a career-best sixth in Budapest, Gabriel Bortoleto never really had the pace to compete for points at Zandvoort. The same could be said of Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who was unusually behind Franco Colapinto—the Argentine took home 11 fantasy points for 11th place.

Mercedes’ George Russell and Kimi Antonelli also had a shocker. Russell picked up damage when Leclerc barged past him under a VSC restart, forcing him to let his teammate through. Antonelli did well to fight up to “best of the rest,” but he threw this all away with a lunge of his own on Leclerc that earned him a penalty, dropping him to 16th, for -1 points in F1 Fantasy.

As we resume our F1 Fantasy league after the summer break, a similar name sits atop the standings: 44th Gear. Despite dropping points to second place (thanks largely to Ferrari), our longtime championship leader still had this week’s top scorer, Piastri, and both Aston drivers.

Hadjar, Bearman, Albon, and Stroll all scored very well at the Dutch Grand Prix, showing that it’s still possible to claw back points in the back half of the season. At times, the likes of Russell, Hulkenberg, and Ocon have also thrived relative to their value, while Antonelli, Yuki Tsunoda, and both Ferrari drivers haven’t lived up to their valuation so far.

Of course, not every race has three safety cars to shake up the order. We’ll likely get a better idea of the state of play at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix from September 5 to 9, 2025. Those wanting to take part in F1 Fantasy, can still join the GP247 league here.