F1 Fantasy: The best and worst performers from the first third of 2019

Following the Canadian Grand Prix, we’re seven races down in 2019 with 14 to go. A good time then, we felt, to see which five drivers have delivered the most points in F1 Fantasy so far – and which drivers you might want to think about flicking from your team.

The top five

1. Lewis Hamilton – 304 points

Cost ahead of French Grand Prix: $31.5 million

2. Valtteri Bottas – 260 points

Cost ahead of French Grand Prix: $21.9 million

3. Sebastian Vettel – 223 points

Cost ahead of French Grand Prix: $28.4 million

4. Max Verstappen – 218 points

Cost ahead of French Grand Prix: $24.8 million

5. Charles Leclerc – 149 points

Cost ahead of French Grand Prix: $22.5 million

The Mercedes boys, inevitably, lead the way at the moment, with Lewis Hamilton post-Canada having won five out of seven races so far this season, his best ever start to a year – although largely because of his high price tag, Bottas has made five ‘Best team’ appearances to Hamilton’s three in our ‘Best team/Worst team’ post-race features.

Sebastian Vettel would have had a few more points had he not lost his win in Canada but has still scored reasonably strongly, while Max Verstappen’s amazing consistency in 2019 has seen him score 218 points to team mate Pierre Gasly’s 89 – with Gasly currently outscored by even the Racing Point of Sergio Perez.

Bringing up the rear of the top five, Charles Leclerc has accumulated less than half of Hamilton’s score following the Monegasque’s slightly bumpy beginning to his career at Ferrari.

READ MORE: 5 of the best F1 Fantasy leagues you should get involved with

The bottom five

20. Romain Grosjean – 2 points

Cost ahead of French Grand Prix: $8.3 million

19. Lando Norris – 25 points

Cost ahead of French Grand Prix: $6.4 million

18. Daniel Ricciardo – 31 points

Cost ahead of French Grand Prix: $11.2 million

=16. Alex Albon – 39 points

Cost ahead of French Grand Prix: $6.7 million

=16.Robert Kubica – 39 points

Cost ahead of French Grand Prix: $5.5 million

After pre-season testing, Romain Grosjean seemed like a reasonable bet for F1 Fantasy success, with the Haas having looked rapid around Barcelona and the Frenchman’s price tag attractive. But with just two points to his name in the 2019 drivers’ championship compared to team mate Kevin Magnussen’s 14, that’s seen Grosjean net only two points in F1 Fantasy as well (Magnussen’s scored 64), making him easily the lowest performer of the season so far in the game.

Next up is Lando Norris, who’s been especially hurt by two DNFs in the past three races. Daniel Ricciardo was, like Grosjean, predicted by many to do big things this season – but his year got off to a rough start, which was disappointing for the 60.1% of F1 Fantasy players who’d picked him ahead of the 2019 action. After his sixth place in Canada, though, the Australian appears to be coming on song now, so may begin to reward the faithful.

Tied in 16th, meanwhile, Alex Albon and Robert Kubica both have 39 points to their name – decent for Albon, whose team mate Daniil Kvyat has just 11 more, but less good for Kubica, who has less than half the points of George Russell, currently the second highest scoring ‘midfield’ driver behind Perez with a fine 83.

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