F1 Fantasy: Russell surprise top scorer in Hungary slow-burner

While Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri battled for supremacy out front, Russell quietly took advantage of Charles Leclerc’s woes to pinch a podium finish. Having also picked up ten points for the fastest lap, “Mr. Saturday” played a blinder on Sunday, with a total of 37 fantasy points, enough to pip McLaren boys Norris (36) and Piastri (29) for top spot.

On a difficult weekend for the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari, KICK Sauber and Aston Martin also capitalized. Gabriel Bortoleto finished a career-best sixth, earning him a handy 24 points. Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, held on to convert an unexpectedly high fifth-place qualifying for 17 fantasy points of his own—not a bad return for two Formula 1 rookies!

It may have been more of a chess match than an all-timer, but Sunday’s race certainly turned the tables on the sport’s established names. Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur was left scratching his head about where Leclerc’s pace went. Max Verstappen will be wondering how long it’ll be before he tastes victory again; Red Bull were well and truly beaten. All signs point to McLaren heading into the summer break.

Notoriously a difficult track to overtake on, the Hungaroring proved the perfect place for the midfield to go long on their tyres and defend against faster cars. Stroll put in a (strangely) faultless performance to clinch seventh place and 13 points in F1 Fantasy.

Yet again, Liam Lawson finished in the points, claiming eighth for another ten fantasy points. He even held off Verstappen towards the end! Although this was probably as much to do with the Red Bull being a literal tractor for the entire weekend, the Kiwi’s comeback after an appalling start to the season has gone under a lot of people’s radars.

Despite the fact they both finished outside the top ten, Nico Hulkenberg and Alex Albon also scored well, picking up 14 & 12 fantasy points, respectively. This is due to quirks in the F1 Fantasy point-scoring system, which rewards overtaking. To be fair, they did start from P19 & P20, so making ten places at a track that’s basically Monaco without walls is a tall order!

Verstappen & Lewis Hamilton: two great champions, reunited on-track in Hungary. The pair nearly crashed mid-race, with Hamilton appearing to avoid contact by veering off the road. But neither will be happy with ninth or twelfth. In the context of F1 Fantasy, Verstappen did slightly better with 11 points, though their backers will be equally disappointed.

Isack Hadjar’s drop out of the points saw him rewarded with just four fantasy points, while Ollie Bearman was punished for a DNF with -18 points. It was an unfortunate end to the weekend for the young Brit who had qualified in a relatively promising 11th place.

Fittingly, two of F1’s most endangered drivers scored some of the fewest points. Yuki Tsunoda, who appears to have retained his seat due to the good grace of Honda, never looked like troubling the points and finished a disastrous 17th. Franco Colapinto came a place lower, picked up a score of -3 fantasy points, and is surely on his way out the door soon.

After the race in Hungary, a familiar name sits atop our standings in the GP247 F1 Fantasy league. 44th Gear’s seemingly unassailable lead remains, although they did have Bearman in their team—otherwise they’d have built an even larger gap to second place!

Those looking for a surprise point scorer to fire them back into contention should consider whether the likes of Bortoleto has turned a corner, he’s priced at only $4.5 million. Alonso now costs $3 million more, but he too has rebounded, picking up big points in four of the last six races. Lawson has also bounced back, albeit with a slightly smaller points return.

On the flipside, Ferrari appears on the brink of another breakdown, with Hamilton at least. Perhaps they’re best avoided at the moment. Given their similarly high price tags, Tsunoda and Kimi Antonelli are also a pretty big gamble right now. The only certainty at the top appears to be that McLaren will continue to dominate from here on out—leave them out at your peril.

F1 is in the midst of a four-week summer break, so fantasy players have plenty of time to rethink their selections. There’s still time to join the GP247 F1 fantasy league here. The action continues at the Dutch Grand Prix from August 29-31, 2025.