F1 Fantasy: Verstappen’s Imola Masterclass unpacked

Following an audacious turn one overtake, Verstappen stormed clear of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to secure a massive win and 57 fantasy points for his fans. By contrast, the boys in Papaya scored 31 points each. Only 16% of players picked Verstappen over the McLarens, well played to them!

Predictably, race retirees Esteban Ocon and Kimi Antonelli were punished by the F1 Fantasy gods for their DNFs, scoring -18 and -19 points, respectively.

Aston Martin also fell off the face of the earth after a stunning double top ten in qualifying, falling to eleventh and fifteenth.

This saw Fernando Alonso score just 4 points (leaving him stone-dead last in the fantasy standings). Before we get into the other winners and losers of this weekend, don’t forget that GP247 is not only covering F1 Fantasy each week, we also have our very own fantasy league.

It’s not too late to join, and newcomers can register free of charge. You can sign up for the GP247 fantasy league here.

Ferrari treated the Tifosi to an absolute shocker in qualifying, with both cars failing to make Q3. But they put on a spirited race performance to claw their way back into fourth and sixth. Thanks to these overtakes, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both scored well, with 24 & 25 fantasy points.

Williams pair Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz did similarly well, outqualifying Ferrari and holding on to fifth and eighth places. This earned the former 18 points and the latter 12 points—a pretty handy return for drivers not priced at the level of those racing at the front end of the grid.

Arguably, Nico Hulkenberg also did brilliantly with his KICK Sauber, taking home nine points (more than a third of his season’s total).

Franco Colapinto may have attracted a huge Argentinian following to Imola, but he failed to make his mark at the first attempt. That said, he has five more races to go on his initial Alpine contract. At 4.5-million in-game dollars, he could yet prove to be a bargain.

Many of F1 Fantasy’s lowest scorers failed to deliver yet again at Imola. Gabriel Bortoleto scored -2 points after being outperformed by his more experienced German teammate.

Liam Lawson was anonymous once more, earning him just three points—albeit the same amount as Pierre Gasly, who continues not to justify his fantasy price of $7.6-million.

Despite being one of the season’s early stars, Ollie Bearman has struggled at recent races. His seventeenth-place finish did nothing to change that, earning the Brit just four points.

Lance Stroll’s yo-yo season also continued, as an outstanding eighth-place qualifying yielded a shocking fifteenth-place finish—and a well-earned -2 points for the weekend.

You could also make the case for Mercedes having a bit of a shocker at Imola. In the early season, they’d delivered a great bang for the buck in the world of F1 Fantasy.

However, George Russell scored just 15 points in Italy, which doesn’t really justify his $22.3-million price tag. The home favorite also suffered power unit failure in a weekend to forget for the German outfit.

Regular readers of our roundup will see a familiar name at the top of this week’s standings. Zinzan’s No. 1 Army held the top spot after using his Wildcard to change things up—albeit without turning to Verstappen. Clearly, McLaren’s dominance to date is still paying dividends!

New names like Unsafe Release and The Number One Formula also floated towards the summit, picking up far more points than our overall leader.

So it’s all to play for in the GP247 fantasy league. As a reminder, there’s still time to sign up. You can register for free here.

If bragging rights aren’t enough, F1 Fantasy is also offering a number of lucrative prizes. So there are plenty of reasons to continue taking part. Stay tuned for more GP247 coverage as the season goes on.