F1 Fantasy: Verstappen top-scorer after stunning Monza win

Just 16% of competitors in F1’s Fantasy League picked the Dutchman, but he ended up winning convincingly at Monza and picking up 46 points—the highest of anyone. McLaren, meanwhile, were left mired in the aftermath of their own questionable strategy.

They pitted Oscar Piastri first to cover off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, but Lando Norris’ slow stop lost him second position. McLaren then stepped in to swap things back, disappointing Formula 1 fans seeking a bit of spice in this year’s title race. Norris was rewarded with 37 in-game points; Piastri earned just 25 points, a relatively poor week for the Aussie.

Leclerc was spirited at the start, initially diving past Piastri for third. Like teammate Lewis Hamilton, he tried putting on a show for the watching Tifosi. But Ferrari left too much to do and didn’t have the pace to compete at the front. This left Hamilton with 26 fantasy points (for fighting back from tenth) and Leclerc with 21 points—not great for drivers that cost top fantasy dollar.

Away from F1’s usual frontrunners, Alex Albon drove an absolutely brilliant race. It went under the radar in the race coverage, but the Thai-Brit fought his way up from 14th to seventh, pulling a great overtake on Kimi Antonelli on the outside of turn four. The result earned him 15 fantasy points and pushed him up to seventh in the overall standings.

Rookie Gabriel Bortoleto also continued an outstanding run of form that has seen him earn 16 points in the last four races.

Each week, he outperforms his more experienced teammate in qualifying, and he converted on his eighth-place grid slot for 13 fantasy points. Okay, the Hulk was forced to retire before the race, but Bortoleto is one-upping him at the moment.

Fresh off the back of his first podium at Zandvoort, Isack Hadjar was similarly impressive. The 20-year-old came from 16th to finish in the top ten, earning him 12 in-game points.

Yuki Tsunoda, current incumbent of the second Red Bull seat, will surely be looking over his shoulder, especially considering that he had another anonymous weekend.

Arguably, there were very few midfield surprises at Monza. Antonelli’s relatively poor run of form continued as he finished ninth for six fantasy points. Haas also struggled once again, with both drivers caught up in incidents that earned penalties. With four fantasy points between them this weekend, the pair aren’t the same in-game bargain as before.

Carlos Sainz, who spun off with Bearman at turn four, finished outside the points for the sixth event in a row. That’s quite a statistic, considering the fanfare that followed his arrival at Williams this summer. His three F1 Fantasy points take him up to 25 for the season—Albon has picked up 129 by comparison—there’s no doubt who’s winning that battle!

As you’d expect, Lance Stroll also had a stinker of a race. Sure, at one point, the Canadian was forced to take the escape road to avoid Esteban Ocon. But he spent the whole weekend off the pace of his teammate. Fernando Alonso ran in the points before breaking down at Ascari, yet the pair picked up -18 fantasy points between them. Not an ideal race for Aston.

By comparison, Alpine were never really on the pace. Franco Colapinto finished second to last in 17th, only beating Stroll to the line. Pierre Gasly, who will be wondering what he signed up for with his new contract last week, came home one place higher for five fantasy points.

Despite Verstappen turning the tables on McLaren, there were no big changes at the top of GP247’s F1 Fantasy league. Leader 44th Gear actually extended their advantage by eight points, with all their drivers scoring well except the rather unfortunate Alonso.

Looking at overall selection trends, Hadjar remains the most popular driver in F1 Fantasy, with 56% of all players selecting him for Monza. Only 5% of players chose Tsunoda, making him the least popular driver in the game. Due to dynamic pricing, it’s also worth noting that Gasly is now 4.5 million in-game dollars (the minimum possible).

Could the Frenchman become a bargain? If Alpine can sort their act out, possibly. Arguably, at $9.2 million, Hulkenberg remains the best value driver with 143 points—more than anyone outside the sport’s top six. With both Hamilton & Leclerc nearly priced the same as Piastri, Ferrari are the worst value. Just 14% have Leclerc, and 11% are backing Hamilton.

Hopefully that gives players an idea of which way the wind is blowing. If you’re interested, you can still sign up for the GP247 F1 Fantasy league here. F1 Fantasy continues in line with the regular season at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from 19 to 21 September, 2025.