F1 DFS Picks: Lineup & Strategy for Dutch Grand Prix
By Phil Bobbitt in Racing
Updated: August 23, 2026 at 1:27 am EDTPublished:
- A massive separation emerged between Formula 1’s leading teams and the rest of the field during Saturday’s Sprint
- Our lineup uses a deeply unpopular Bortoleto captain-Audi constructor combination to unlock Antonelli, Norris, and Russell
- Below, see our F1 DFS picks, lineup, and strategy for the Dutch Grand Prix
Circuit Zandvoort is narrow, fast and banked like someone designed a Formula 1 track inside a carnival ride. It is visually spectacular. It is also approximately as easy to pass here as it is to move through a crowded airplane aisle while carrying two drinks and wearing a backpack.
Saturday’s Sprint confirmed that track position will be enormously important. George Russell started first and won. Lando Norris started second and finished third. Charles Leclerc produced the only meaningful move near the front when he passed Norris for second on Lap 18.
Otherwise, everyone spent 24 laps participating in an extremely expensive parade.
That makes Sunday’s starting grid particularly important. It also creates an opportunity for a deeply unpopular DFS construction devised by completely normal and emotionally stable people.
Dutch Grand Prix Expert DFS Lineup
DraftKings salaries as of race week. Build your Dutch Grand Prix F1 DFS lineup at the best DFS sites and apps before lights out at Zandvoort.
Dutch Grand Prix F1 DFS Picks
Kimi Antonelli ($13,400) – Start: 3rd
Antonelli is the most expensive driver in the lineup, but the model considers him the strongest play in the field. He starts third, projects to win and leads everyone with 53.2 projected DraftKings points.
Antonelli has looked like the best driver on the property all weekend. He led the only practice session, finishing ahead of Norris and Russell, before damaging his floor during a trip through the beach in Sprint Qualifying.
He still qualified fifth, jumped Oscar Piastri at the start and finished fourth, only 0.385 seconds behind Norris.
Antonelli then qualified third for the Grand Prix, putting both Mercedes drivers inside the first three starting positions. He can win the race, and we get all that upside without paying the captain multiplier on a $13,400 salary.
That win-equity ceiling is exactly the type of single-driver bet that also translates well to a pick’em play on PrizePicks if you want another angle on his afternoon.
Lando Norris ($11,000) – Start: 1st
Norris starts from pole and projects to finish second with 46 DraftKings points, the second-highest total in the model.
The McLaren driver finished second in FP1, qualified second for the Sprint and finished third after Leclerc passed him late. Norris responded by taking Grand Prix pole from Russell with a lap of 1:11.163.
At a circuit where passing requires paperwork, written permission and perhaps a small miracle, starting first is useful. Norris also owns the clearest route to the laps-led bonus.
George Russell ($10,400) – Start: 2nd
Russell might be the best salary-adjusted option among the elite drivers.
He qualified on pole for the Sprint and controlled all 24 laps to win ahead of Leclerc and Norris. He starts second in the Grand Prix and projects to finish third with 39.4 DraftKings points.
Mercedes has been excellent throughout the weekend, and Russell costs less than Norris, Antonelli, Leclerc and Hamilton.
At $10,400, we are not overthinking it.
Dutch Grand Prix DFS Strategy: The Bortoleto-Audi Stack
Gabriel Bortoleto (Captain) ($7,200) – Start: 9th
Nobody will use a Bortoleto-Audi captain stack except us and perhaps a handful of other psychos who accidentally clicked the wrong buttons.
We have not completely lost our minds here. At least, not for this particular reason.
Bortoleto qualified ninth for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix. He finished ninth in the Sprint, and the SpeedwaySteve2 model projects him to finish 10th with 24 DraftKings points.
The competitive order is unusually concentrated. Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull occupied the first seven finishing positions in the Sprint. Then came the continental shelf.
Lewis Hamilton finished seventh. Pierre Gasly crossed the line more than 30 seconds later in eighth, with Bortoleto following him home in ninth. It was less a gap between the leading manufacturers and everyone else than a formal separation of racing classes.
Bortoleto starts four positions ahead of Audi teammate Nico Hulkenberg. With passing proving extremely difficult, he has a great chance to stay in front and collect the teammate bonus. We need that bonus to make this strange little operation work.
Audi Constructor ($3,800) – Start: 9th/13th
The Audi constructor completes the lineup and makes the Bortoleto captain choice matter.
Bortoleto starts ninth, while Hulkenberg starts 13th. Audi placed both drivers inside the top nine during FP1, and Bortoleto reached SQ3 before finishing ninth in the Sprint.
Hulkenberg’s Sprint was ruined by a power issue, but both cars have demonstrated enough speed to compete near the front of the midfield. Audi doesn’t need to challenge Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull or Ferrari. We need Bortoleto to maintain his track position, Hulkenberg to recover and both cars to reach the finish.
That is no small request. This is Formula 1, where a sensor worth approximately $14 can destroy the work of several hundred engineers and an entire weekend.
Will this explode in our faces? Absolutely possible.
But the Bortoleto-Audi stack gets Antonelli, Norris and Russell into the same lineup. Nobody else will want to play it, and I am apparently taking that as encouragement.
Dutch Grand Prix DFS Value Play
Fernando Alonso ($4,200) – Start: 18th
Alonso starts 18th and projects to finish 17th with 11 DraftKings points. That is not exciting, but we do not need excitement at $4,200.
We need him to finish the race, gain a position or two and beat Lance Stroll.
Alonso finished FP1 six positions ahead of Stroll. He also qualified directly ahead of his teammate for the Grand Prix.
Alonso is a two-time world champion. Stroll is a long-running experiment designed to determine how much patience one father can purchase.
The results remain inconclusive, but the funding continues.
Stroll is one of the few drivers capable of making an 18th-place starting position feel encouraging. If Alonso keeps the car pointed in approximately the correct direction, he has a strong chance to earn the teammate bonus.
Stroll can handle the rest.
Looking to bet the Dutch Grand Prix outright? Grab the latest BetMGM promo code for F1 odds and futures, or browse the top F1 betting apps for more options.
Phil Bobbitt is a motorsports betting analyst and recurring guest on CBS Sports HQ, The Early Edge, and VSiN’s A Numbers Game. He and his pal Steve developed a racing algorithm that’s profited over 260 units and $1 million in DFS winnings since 2020.
