Welcome to the inaugural F1 DFS playbook! The first round of the 2022 season is the Bahrain GP at the Bahrain International Circuit. These playbooks will look a bit different than the NASCAR playbooks and they’ll be briefer. That doesn’t mean they won’t be chalked full of tidbits and winning plays. The layout of the playbook will feature the sections of the DraftKings rosters and so you’ll see a few different plays for Captain spots and Constructors with a handful of drivers for the regular spot as well. If you haven’t read it yet, there is a DFS scoring primer up on site that explains the ins and outs of the DraftKings scoring system.

The contests are smaller, right now, as the launch weekend is underway but they are still some nice prizes for GPPs and good cash contests as well. With half the field of a typical NASCAR race, it may lead to some chalky plays more often, but the strategy of the scoring system is where we’ll find differentiators.

Track Facts

The Bahrain International Circuit has been in the F1 schedule circulation for the better part of nearly two decades. Over that time there have been multiple layouts used and it’s been in different spots of the calendar as well. However, the 15-turn layout that is being used this year has been the most popular layout. There is a mix of slow corners and fast corners on the track but the most challenging corner is perhaps Turn 10 which is downhill and off-camber before a long straight. There are 57 laps in the race equalling a total race distance of 308 km with each lap being 5.4 km.

Playbook

Captain Spot

If you read through the Scoring Primer, you’ll see what the value of choosing the right captain can be to your lineup but there are a few different ways to build with a captain based on the points being offered.

Max Verstappen - Red Bull - P2 - $18,000

Verstappen is coming off a World Championship last year and has the speed back in the Red Bull once again. He was trading spots at the top of the speed chart with the Ferraris during testing and practice. He was just a tick slower in qualifying and will start second in the grid. At this piece though, we need him to be the fastest car and leading as many laps as possible for this price. If you want to play Verstappen, he takes up less of a chunk of your budget in a regular spot, but if he does lead all the laps, and win, we’ll be missing out on 50-percent more points.

Charles Leclerc - Ferrari - P1 - $16,200

Leclerc and Ferrari appeared primed to be in it for the long haul this year and it’s starting with him on the pole for Sunday. He was very fast in both tyre compounds they used in practice, both the medium and soft, and was no further than second on the charts at any time. Being on the pole for F1 is a huge advantage but doesn’t always guarantee a win or a dominant performance. He is fine to play a lot of in either the Captain or regular spots in a roster.

George Russell - Mercedes - P9 - $14,400

This is might not have been the Mercedes you’d expect to see here. Frankly, It’s been a tough start to the year for Merc with questionable pace in testing and practice. That’s not what makes Russell interesting though; It’s his qualifying spot of ninth. He ran faster than that at practice in FP2 and had been faster in earlier qualifying sessions as well. If he gets back up to 4th or 5th by the end of the race and potentially beats Lewis Hamilton, there are a heap of points possible for him, especially with the Captain 1.5x bonus.

Valterri Bottas - Alfa Romeo - P6 - $6,900

Bottas took a step down in equipment this year with the move from Mercedes to Alfa Romeo. Perhaps that’s driven him to take frustrations out on the track. He was surprisingly fast in practice and qualifying and has the skills to stay inside the top-10 fairly easily. The other advantage to playing him in the Captain spot is the fact that his nearly assured of beating his teammate which is, if you read the scoring primer, a bonus of five points (7.5 for captains).

Drivers

All of the drivers listed in the captain spot are playable for regular driver seats and will cost 1.5x less for these spots.

Carlos Sainz - Ferrari - P3 - $10,200

His teammate is fast and so is he. The Ferraris in general are coming out hot to start the year so let’s take advantage. Sainz was close to being on the pole and he has the speed to stick in the podium spots to be sure. If he can gain a spot the upping of finishing position points is nice and leading some laps would be good too, though just for a sprinkling of points. To really maximize the points here, we’ll need him to pass his teammate, Leclerc, to get the bonus points.

Pierre Gasly - Alphatauri - P10 - $7,600

Gasly has been magical at times over the last week in his Alphatauri. That included practice and qualifying in similar conditions to the race. He’s in a great spot to finish better than his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, for those all-important bonus points. In practice FP2 he also ran inside the top-five and if he can get anywhere close to that, we’re getting Spot vs. Grid Position points too.

Fernando Alonso - Alpine - P8 - $6,600

The elder statesman of the grid still has speed in his car and that was on display in practice and qualifying. He ran P8 in practice 1 and P5 in practice 2 and should be able to get a top-10 finish fairly easily. Along with that will come the shot to beat his teammate Esteban Ocon. It’s likely that Alonso is a very popular mid-tier play to get good points and save salary.

Kevin Magnussen - Haas - P7 - $3,800

Magnussen is back in all his glory. He’s been out of F1 for a year or so after getting replaced at Haas, who he’s now back with. What a difference a year makes. Magnussen has shown great speed in the Haas car this week and at time in testing was the fastest on the track. That won’t happen here, but he certainly has the speed and ability to stay in the top-10. Starting four spots better than his teammate doesn’t hurt.

Mick Schumacher - Haas - P12 - $3,200

Speaking of his teammate, here he is. Schumacher is looking like a different driver this year, at least to start. He has shown speed in the new car at testing and practice this week and qualified P12. If he can move up to P9 by the end of the race, he’ll get Spots vs. Grid points and could challenge Magnussen for the first Haas in the finishing order.

Constructors

Red Bull Racing - $10,800

There’s really nothing more to say about Red Bull other than their still fast and have two drivers starting in the top-four. That gives them a great shot for the Podium Finish bonus along with the top-10 finishes bonus. If Verstappen does in fact lead a bunch of laps, we get those points here too. They will be popular as a lot of people who are playing simply based on Drive To Survive will be fans of Red Bull.

Ferrari - $9,400

Ferrari is a legacy team and a lot of people are happy their seeing life from the Scuderia. Their drivers are starting first and third so they’re already in line for the Podium Finish bonus. Like Red Bull, there are big bonus and laps led upside here along with high finish positions for their drivers but with the speed, they’ve shown this week they’ll be popular as well.

Alpine F1 Team - $6,600

If we’re trying to get a differentiator into a lineup, Alpine can help with that. Not a lot of people are paying attention to them, other than Alonso. They have their drivers starting P8 and P11 which means if they simply hold spots and move up one or two, they get a top-10 finish bonus while being in the mid-tier for Constructors. The main way to maximize the points from Constructors is to get the bonuses and Alpine is in a spot to do that.

Haas F1 Team - $3,600

A year ago there’s no way that I’d be thinking of Haas at all since they were more synonymous with spinning out and not finishing than anything else. New year, new car, new team though. If we’re liking Alpine for the bonus points they can get, they we should be liking Haas for the same reason. Magnussen and Schumacher are starting P8 and P12 and both ran inside the top-10 at practice. If they can finish there, they can nab us bonuses for very little money off our salary cap.