F1 Fantasy: Ferrari capitalise on Mercedes' misfortune at Silverstone

The Mongasque arrived at Silverstone in desperate need of a result. Fortunately for him, the Formula 1 gods chose to punish Kimi Antonelli, who suffered a bizarre wheel shield failure that stopped him bearing down on Leclerc and cost him a shot at victory. 

Thanks to Saturday’s sprint win, Antonelli picked up 23 in-game points, but he was outgunned by all his championship rivals, both in the real standings and in F1 Fantasy. Leclerc was this weekend’s top scorer with 54 fantasy points; Russell’s fortunes changed with a late safety car, which promoted him to P2 for 44 points. 

Lewis Hamilton wasn’t able to compete for a record-breaking tenth British Grand Prix victory, but he still made it onto the podium for 33 fantasy points. Lando Norris picked up 38 in-game points for P4, while teammate Oscar Piastri did well to get 19 points after damaging his front wing and dropping to P11 in the main race. 

Of all the top teams, Red Bull had the worst weekend by far. Okay, Isack Hadjar collected 23 fantasy points for a decent showing in P5, but this result came at the expense of a Max Verstappen crash. A diabolical car setup left the Dutchman seething—and he ended up in the gravel trap with -3 points to his name. 

Antonelli, Verstappen, and Piastri’s calamities opened the door to F1’s midfield. The usual suspects were in position to exploit the situation, as Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad took P6 & P7 for 40 fantasy points, all but confirming Racing Bulls’ “best of the rest” status. 

Audi also managed to climb into the top ten for the first time since Australia. In the races after Jonathan Wheatley left the outfit, they have wobbled a fair bit. But to be fair, at Silverstone, Gabriel Bortoleto took full advantage of the frontrunners’ woes to grab P8 for 16 in-game points—and four long-overdue real ones. 

Alpine were the other big beneficiary, taking P9 & P10. Without a huge dollop of luck, Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly would’ve had no chance of clinching points. Their fastest laps were half a second off those around them. But they stayed out of trouble and converted well, taking 50 fantasy points after recovering from P19 & P15. 

Haas have had a difficult run of late. In F1 Fantasy terms, Ollie Bearman earned 13 points for P12; under-fire Esteban Ocon gained a very respectable 19 points for P13. It wasn’t the top-ten finish they were looking for, but it was the closest they’ve been in a few rounds. 

It’s fair to say Williams haven't lived up to expectations in general, but this weekend was especially messy. Alex Albon set the tone in the grand prix when he clouted Bearman at Brooklands. Carlos Sainz was then hit with a strange one-lap penalty, as the pair finished way off the top ten, earning -5 fantasy points. 

One year on from his fairytale first-ever podium, Hulkenberg also had a very difficult time of it. While his teammate finished in the points, he suffered a demoralizing gearbox failure, forcing him into retirement. Hulkenberg said it just wasn’t his race weekend; it wasn’t in F1 Fantasy either, as he scored -7 points. 

Considering how bad they’ve been, Cadillac and Aston Martin will be pretty relieved that all four cars finished at power-sensitive Silverstone. Having picked up places due to others’ misfortune, they even scored a handful of fantasy points. So, it’s not all doom and gloom, but this year’s backmarkers will want more. 

Once again, there’s a new leader in GP247’s F1 Fantasy league. Clipping on Straights has retaken top spot, although he did use a chip on Lewis Hamilton to boost his points tally. He and second place Sammyed F1 Racing also chose Antonelli, who scored unusually poorly, so it wasn’t a perfect week for anyone. 

Just like in the real championship, Antonelli is still the pick of this year’s frontrunners. However, his lead has slipped as Hamilton and Russell have entered the fight. In the midfield, Gasly is now ahead of “best of the rest” Lawson on fantasy points but costs much more. At $13.3 million, Hadjar is also poor value for money, even if he is faring better against Verstappen. 

Elsewhere, the wider story of Ferrari’s success at Silverstone could lay the groundwork for a renewed title battle. Let’s see if Antonelli can recover at Spa Francorchamps. In the meantime, if you’re interested in joining the GP247 F1 Fantasy league, it’s still possible. It’s free to take part—and F1 is dishing out prizes. You can register here.