F1 FANTASY: Discover the best and worst-scoring squads in the USA

Lewis Hamilton may have claimed his sixth world title at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas, as Valtteri Bottas won his fourth race of the year. But how did the scores play out in F1 Fantasy land? We bring you the best and worst teams from the 2019 United States Grand Prix.

Usually at this juncture in the proceedings, we quote the microscopically small possibilities of selecting the ideal team and then congratulate the four or five plucky individuals who managed to choose said team.

WATCH: Hamilton and Bottas visit Mercedes factory for title celebrations

However, while the odds for picking this week’s ‘Best Team’ were indeed minute – 0.000006%, given the possible 15,764,142 valid variations – a full 605 F1 Fantasy players selected it. Which can only mean, we assume, that you’ve been paying attention to our advice…

Here’s the optimal squad from the United States Grand Prix – as well as the one you should have avoided like a Texan bull with a toothache.

READ MORE: Check out the best performing drivers from the 2019 season so far...

Best Team

Total points: 230
Budget: $99.9 million

Valtteri Bottas: 44 points
Lando Norris: 23 points
George Russell: 9 points
Charles Leclerc: 31 points
Daniel Ricciardo: 50 points (Turbo Driver)

Constructor: Mercedes – 73 points

Pole man and race winner Valtteri Bottas was the hero of the day in Austin (alongside his history book re-writing team mate) – and he’s also turning into a bit of a hero for F1 Fantasy players, both he and his Mercedes team making their 11th appearance of the year in the ‘Best Team’ after their near-perfect weekend.

Joining, Charles Leclerc may not have been overjoyed with his weekend, but fourth on the grid to fourth at the flag was enough for the Monegasque to make the cut here, along with the two excellent midfield performances of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, Ricciardo earning the Turbo Driver accolade.

Rounding out the team came Williams’ George Russell, the Briton making his second appearance in the squad in as many weeks.

READ MORE: Why Hamilton’s sporting greatness transcends Formula 1

Worst Team

Worst Team

Total points: -26
Budget: $68.9 million

Pierre Gasly: -3 points
Sebastian Vettel: -1 point
Romain Grosjean: 6 points
Kevin Magnussen: 0 points
Robert Kubica: -28 points (Turbo Driver)

Constructor: Toro Rosso – 0 points

While we have your attention, we couldn’t help but notice that, despite the fact that the US Grand Prix marked his (very unlucky) 13th appearance in the ‘Worst Team’ this season, a full 11.9% of F1 Fantasy players still have Romain Grosjean in their teams.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with being a Grosjeanophile, per se… but given his and Haas’ struggles in the races this year, we’d strongly advise approaching both RoGro and KMag with caution in F1 Fantasy terms. Both drivers make this week’s ‘Worst Team’, Magnussen now second-highest to Grosjean on the list of appearances, with nine…

READ MORE: ‘We have nothing’ – Steiner admits Haas can’t wait for 2020 after difficult home race

Along with those two come the race’s only official retirees, Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica, while late stoppages for Magnussen and Pierre Gasly (although they were still classified 18th and 16th respectively) didn’t help their causes.

Toro Rosso, meanwhile, make their first ‘Worst Team’ constructor appearance of 2019 after a point-less race at the Circuit of The Americas, Daniil Kvyat having finished 10th on the road after his late challenge on Sergio Perez, before a post-race penalty for that challenge dropped him to P12.

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