F1 Fantasy: Kimi Antonelli the man of the moment in China

The youngster didn’t have the best of times in the China Sprint, dropping to tenth before punting Isack Hadjar off-track and earning himself a 10-second penalty. But he was brilliant from then onwards. Antonelli fought back to fifth, then grabbed pole and held on for a fully deserved race win as Russell diced with the Ferraris behind. 

It was an exceptional drive, beyond his years. While the Italian (the first to win a GP since Giancarlo Fisichella in 2006) earned 68 fantasy points, Ferrari were next up with 51 points (Charles Leclerc) and 48 points (Lewis Hamilton).

It was fun to watch as they fought closely but fairly throughout—that's how it’s done, team Papaya Rules, aka McLaren! 

Russell had a reasonable weekend, earning himself 45 in-game points for P2. However, he did show hints of a few weaknesses to give young Antonelli cause for optimism. Is the title battle on?

We’ll have to wait and see (especially now that Saudi and Bahrain have been cancelled). In the meantime, let’s keep ourselves entertained by taking a look at how F1 Fantasy played out. 

Behind the Mercedes and Ferraris, it really was all to play for in China. McLaren seemed to be the best of the rest in the Sprint, but they double DNF’d the main event. A disaster for the current World Champions, as they picked up -17 F1 Fantasy points and 8 real ones for the whole event. 

Arguably the cream of the current crop, Max Verstappen also had a weekend to forget. The Dutchman bogged down for a third straight start in the Grand Prix, dropping him like a stone through the grid. He then retired from the race, leaving him with just 14 fantasy points. To be fair, his car is so bad, even Toto Wolff is showing sympathy!

With F1’s established players having a shocker, the midfield stepped up to take advantage. Once again, Ollie Bearman was outstanding, taking P7 in the Sprint and P5 in the race for 34 fantasy points. Pierre Gasly also looked sharp in a reinvigorated Alpine, earning 20 points for P6. 

Others, like Liam Lawson, finished lower in P7 but gained more points for overtaking (35). Carlos Sainz gained 28 points for a really solid P9 in an underperforming Williams. Esteban Ocon and Checo Perez scored 24 points and 20 points each, despite crashes of their own making—the F1 Fantasy gods were kind to them due to overtaking.  

A nod to Franco Colapinto as well. He has suffered at times in that Alpine second seat. Flavio Briatore's applied a lot of public pressure to the Argentinian. But he scored his first points in China with P10. This saw him earn a respectable 18 in-game points.

Aston Martin had another write-off of a weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix. At times, both drivers had to remove their hands from the wheel; such was the vibration going through the car. As you’d expect from such a messy package, neither driver finished.

Fernando Alonso was very briefly running P10 in the Sprint—and there are signs that Cadillac has (on pace) the slowest car on the grid. But serious upgrades are required if the team is to regain competitiveness, especially in the reliability of their power unit. 

While Alonso earned a surprisingly high 7 fantasy points, Stroll was awarded -14. Valtteri Bottas, meanwhile, was almost completely absent. The Finn survived an early assault from his teammate to earn just 4 points, as Cadillac also struggled for pace. After an impressive Australian debut, Audi had a minor struggle session of their own. 

Gabriel Bortoleto looked relatively quick again in Shanghai, but he was punished badly for a minor Q2 error that put him out of position. Nico Hulkenberg did slightly better in race trim in P11… though Audi had the pace to do better, and their drivers earned just -7 fantasy points between them. 

Another week, another win for “Clipping on Straights.” Jefferson Antunes’ appropriately named team stays on top of the GP247 F1 Fantasy league with 686 points. Although he did use a limitless chip, so all four of this week’s top point scorers were on his team. 

After just two races, there are already some important F1 Fantasy learnings. At $24.9 million, Oscar Piastri is terrible value. The 10% of players who still have the Aussie should consider spending that in-game coin elsewhere. Verstappen and Lando Norris are also very expensive and struggling—Bearman is a much better bet, although 60% of players have already realized this and picked him. 

Other high scorers include Ocon, Lawson, Gasly, and Sainz. Will you upgrade your midfield bargains or stick to your guns? With the best part of two weeks until Japan, it’s not an urgent question, but it’ll be interesting to see if teams can unlock any performance between now and then.

If you want to take part in the GP247 F1 Fantasy league, all you need to do is join us here. It’s free and it’s a fun way of spicing up the season. Feel free to take part!