F1 Fantasy: Max Verstappen is the clear Driver of the Say at the Australian Grand Prix

Verstappen was involved in a surprising qualifying incident where his rear axel locked, sending him across the gravel into the barriers. Yet, despite not having the most auspicious of starts to his 2026 campaign, Formula 1’s new ruleset threw up enough banana skins for the Dutchman to pick his way back through the field.

Of the well-earned 50 points Verstappen picked up in Australia, 27 were awarded for overtakes, showing just how valuable they’ll be in this year’s fantasy league. Russell, who saw off a stern challenge from Charles Leclerc, earned 39 points. Teammate Kimi Antonelli also recovered well to take an impressive second for 32 in-game points. 

While a resurgent Lewis Hamilton was rewarded with a respectable 25 F1 fantasy points for fourth, current world champion Lando Norris was relatively quiet in race trim, going on to take an eventual fifth. He earned just 21 in-game points, but he’ll be more concerned about McLaren’s pace deficit. 

Before we get to the rest of the runners and riders, don’t forget you can find the full game rules on the F1 Fantasy portal. We’re also running our very own GP247 F1 Fantasy league. If you’re interested in signing up, it’s free and easy to do—you can join us here.  

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At times, F1’s new spec cars were briefly exciting to watch. Leclerc, Russell, and Hamilton competed early on, and Verstappen dueled with Norris towards the end. However, as drivers got to grips with their machinery, it was actually many of the younger heads that prevailed.

Ollie Bearman (last year’s top overtaker in F1 Fantasy) jumped from twelfth to seventh, winning him 20 fantasy points. Arvid Lindblad scrapped with Hamilton and the sister car of Verstappen before bringing home P8 for 15 points. An excellent showing for the sport’s only rookie! Gabriel Bortoleto did similarly well on Audi’s F1 debut. 

The Brazilian qualified inside the top ten—and following a multi-lap scrap with Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon—he converted that pace into a brilliant P8. Each of these drivers did well in F1 Fantasy, picking up 13, 11, and 9 points, respectively.

Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz did okay in fantasy terms, scoring 17 points between them, but the pair were anonymous for much of the weekend. They’ll be hoping for a lot more from Williams soon. 

Especially seeing as James Vowles has spent the last year telling us how much his team has turned a corner performance-wise. Of course, we’ve just started racing with this new ruleset, and there’s plenty of development to come. But Williams isn't in the upper midfield mix at present. 

“Worst weekend on the grid” award definitely goes to Oscar Piastri. After throwing away a chance of victory in last year’s wet Grand Prix, the Aussie will have been hoping for a better showing this time out. Instead, he binned it again, this time before the race even started.

At least Piastri, who earned -14 fantasy points for his performance, wasn’t the only one to suffer a DNF in Melbourne. Fernando Alonso did exceptionally well off the line, fighting his way into the top ten. But his shambles of an Aston Martin eventually let him down.

Lance Stroll also failed to finish alongside Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas, and Isack Hadjar. The Red Bull driver arguably had the most to complain about here—he jumped up to fourth off the start and seemed to be competing with the McLarens. A hydraulic failure soon put an end to this promising start, leaving Hadjar to wonder what could’ve been. 

All these drivers ended up with minus F1 Fantasy points. Liam Lawson and Checo Perez renewed their rivalry of two years ago and did okay with a handful of in-game points. But when you consider how well Lindblad did (and how far Cadillac has to go), they don’t have much to write home about. 

It’s still early doors, and it’s close at the top of the GP247 F1 Fantasy league, but we have an early leader. After gameweek 1, “Mercedes Money” is on top of the pile with 248 points. Well done to Andrew Worthing for putting all their eggs in the Mercedes basket!

Choosing Russell, as well as strong midfield performers Bearman, Bortoleto, and Lindblad, was enough to fire them to the top (even though they lost points for Hadjar). With points being scored for everything from placings to pitstops and fastest laps, there are a lot of ways to close the gap in this year’s game. It’ll be interesting to see how things progress with the new ruleset.

Will the racing continue to be a game of “cat and mouse” as David Coulthard called it in Australia? Or have we moved into something more like Mario Kart? Stay tuned to GP247 to keep tabs on all the action – and sign up for our F1 Fantasy league here.