F1 Fantasy: top picks & predictions for the 2025 US GP

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They say everything’s bigger in Texas, and on a sprint weekend, it could be the same for your F1 Fantasy points haul.

Can you bet on your picks to deliver across Saturday and Sunday?

George Russell will be looking to saddle up for another win following his “oh-go-on-then” Mercedes contract extension – it remains to be seen if the newly crowned Mr Sunday can do well on a track totally different to Singapore.

Perhaps you might choose Max Verstappen, a driver who appears to have got well inside the heads of the two McLaren men, who are suddenly a bit shaky after dominating for so long.

Carlos Sainz shocked everyone by having two semi-acceptable performances in a row by finishing 10th in Singapore – but Ollie Bearman again confounded Fantasy players by performing well against all the odds.

There’s also the small matter of making a crucial chip choice, with more information below – and when the team selection deadline is on a sprint weekend!

It’s time to don your Stetson and press on to the brave frontier of F1 Fantasy.

Motor Sport’s 2025 US GP F1 Fantasy choices: Who’s on your ten-gallon grid?

Things are even closer than they appear in the mirror. For Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen’s one of them.

If Oscar’s not putting it in the wall, then Lando’s driving into his own team-mate or labouring behind the Dutch nightmare; Verstappen has been in fine form recently with a win and a second place.

Enough to jettison Piastri or Norris, or hedge your bets with two star drivers and pair McLaren with a tiddler (sorry, Racing Bulls and Haas)?

Keep your finger off the trigger for now — and stick with Oscar Piastri ($26.6m) — but a big decision is imminent.

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Our last-minute switch from Ferrari to Mercedes in Singapore was the right one and banked us a spare $4.9m. Should we use it to improve the rest of our driving stock?

Unfortunately, with our current picks of Liam Lawson, Isack Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto and Sainz we’re just short of someone like Alex Albon at $12.8m.

Behind him, the midfield pack is almost too congested to make a choice right now — we advise keeping your gunpowder dry until after sprint qualifying this evening.

That leaves us with a few fine beasts on the ranch who we could yet stick with. Lawson ($6.5m) went well at COTA last year and he could easily do the business again.

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Hadjar, who along with Bearman is probably the budget pick of the year, has now risen to the same price of $7.1m. Keep an open mind on switching them: the Brit regularly finishes higher than he qualifies. If you also have Lawson, he scores similarly to Hadjar.

Bortoleto ($6.1m) disappointed in Marina Bay, but has been far better than the remaining alternatives in his price range. See how he does in sprint qualifying.

And then there’s Carlos Sainz ($6.3m). Can the Spaniard lasso three good finishes in a row? He may be F1 Fantasy’s surprise package as we head to the season run-in.

Which F1 Fantasy chips should I use? And when is the sprint deadline?

If you’re going to hedge your bets with a Verstappen-plus-McLaren driver double, then we’d suggest Auto Pilot chip (giving your top-scoring driver DRS Boost) to maximise those points across the sprint weekend, or the Wildcard to make some bold choices.

Otherwise, if you still have one of them, now is the time to use one of your Extra DRS Boost, Limitless or No Negative chips to capitalise on the sprint.

Remember, the deadline is when the sprint race starts (Saturday, 6pm BST), not before sprint qualifying.

Motor Sport 2025 F1 Fantasy US GP line-up