Who to pick and who to avoid as F1 Fantasy launches for 2024 season

The new season of F1 is almost upon us and F1 Fantasy has officially launched meaning it is time to tinker with your teams.

The format of the game sees you pick five drivers and two constructors but with the likes of Max Verstappen taking almost a third of your budget, it is not just a case of picking the best drivers on the grid.

After you have signed up to PlanetF1.com’s official league, take a look at who we think you should sign and who you should avoid.

Sign: Charles Leclerc – $19.1m

Is Charles Leclerc criminally undervalued in this year’s game? At $19.1m, he is the fifth most expensive driver in the game but if Ferrari do hit the ground running, he could easily be one of the best value picks.

To put into context, he will cost you almost $11m less than Verstappen but also $4m cheaper than Lando Norris.

Getting him in your team could be a great differential to move you up the league.

Avoid: Sergio Perez – $20.8m

Speaking of expensive drivers…

Sergio Perez has been priced at $20.8m in this year’s game meaning only Norris and Verstappen are more expensive and while it is tempting to get as much Red Bull in your team as possible, the Mexican’s performances last year were too temperamental to take away a fifth of your budget.

Picking Perez could be a cheaper way of getting a Red Bull driver over the $30m Verstappen but the Dutchman is going to earn you far more points over the course of a season. Getting rid of Perez frees up your budget to get in a couple of midfield drivers who will earn consistent points over the year.

Sign: Daniel Ricciardo – $9m

There are a lot of good things coming out of the revamped RB team which means Daniel Ricciardo could be an excellent value pick.

At £9m, he is valued the most expensive driver out of the top five teams but there are plenty of reasons to believe the team could be challenging far higher up the order than it did in 2023.

With Laurent Mekies in place as team principal alongside CEO Peter Bayer as well as a move closer to the Red Bull way of working, the Faenza team could spring a surprise in 2024 and Ricciardo himself has said top five finishes are possible.

Avoid (for now): Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon – Both $7.8m

With 62 and 58 Drivers’ points respectively last year, both Alpine drivers are the kind of picks you want to consistently boost up your overall score.

They are unlikely to score massively in a weekend, but are more likely to get you points than the cheaper options such as the Haas drivers or Logan Sargeant.

The only problem is that from what we have heard so far, the Alpine car may be a little behind the others at the start of the season. Esteban Ocon admitted the team could be in for a tough start given that almost the entirety of the car has changed so it will be worth waiting to see how they get on before putting either in your team.

Sign: Oscar Piastri – $19m

At $4m cheaper than his team-mate Norris, Oscar Piastri could be an excellent way of securing some McLaren points.

Many are predicting McLaren to be one of the teams able to challenge Red Bull and Piastri proved during his rookie season that he is no slouch.

Norris is still the better bet to get more points over the year but that $4m could prove very beneficial further down your grid.

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Sign: Valtteri Bottas – $6.4m

As with any fantasy game, there will come a time when you have to decide who you want taking up your final spots after the superstars have been picked.

There are not a huge amount of options with only five drivers valued below $7m but of those, it could be Valtteri Bottas who has the most value.

At $6.4m, he is the same price as Nico Hulkenberg but the points weighting means it is far more beneficial to score well on the Sunday than the Saturday, so it will be a case of waiting and seeing if Haas have solved their tyre issues.

For Stake, they have promised a lot and Bottas could be a good choice if they come good.

Sign: RB – $8.5m

If you back the idea that RB will be pushing much higher up the grid this year then they seem a good choice for one of your two Constructors’ spots as well.

At $8.5m, they are far cheaper than the next most expensive Aston Martin at $13.6m and crucially, given they have two good drivers, they should be able to net you a number of points on the cheap in a race weekend.

Avoid: Williams – $6.3m

Williams at $6.3m, the joint cheapest with Haas, seems like a great option on the surface but it is one that could end up blowing up in your face.

If 2024 follows the pattern of 2023, the Williams points are going to be incredibly lopsided towards Alex Albon and considering it is -20 points for a DNF, any Logan Sargeant crash will cost you dear.

If you do believe Williams could be one of the quicker teams, getting Albon alone at $7m seems a far batter choice.

Read next: Join the PlanetF1.com F1 Fantasy league ahead of the 2024 season!