F1 Fantasy 2025: Key Rule Changes You Need to Know

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Disqualification Penalty

In 2024, Grand Prix disqualifications triggered a 25-point penalty that was assessed to both the driver and constructor. Many F1 Fantasy strategists considered this penalty too harsh since disqualifications are rarely the drivers' fault. In Belgium, George Russell's race win was vacated after his Mercedes W15 weighed in below the required specification. Meanwhile, at COTA 2023, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both faced disqualification after illegal plank wear was determined following the race. These disqualifications stemmed from setup issues that the constructors bear the responsibility for preventing, yet the driver received the devastating fantasy penalty.

The 2025 rules remove the burden of disqualifications from the driver and now only the constructor loses points for DSQs. The penalty for Qualifying disqualifications decreased from 15 to 5 points while the penalty for a DSQ at a Grand Prix or Sprint decreased from 25 to 20. This change impacts both scoring and pricing: Nico Hulkenberg finished last season as the 15th highest scoring driver in F1 Fantasy, but by removing his 25-point penalty for a DSQ in Brazil he jumps to P12. Meanwhile, Russell's aforementioned penalty in Belgium led to a $0.5M price decrease, but removing the penalty softens the blow to his price down to $0.3M.

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Reducing the pain from DNFs and DSQs was a major improvement areas identified by our 2024 Community Survey. While DNFs continue to haunt F1 Fantasy strategists, DSQs just became less tragic.

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Price Changes Based on Previous Three Races

The price change algorithm in 2024 led to a cost cap chasm between the top teams and the rest of the field. The game was subject to wild price swings after a single race, from Esteban Ocon's $1.5M price gain at Brazil to Max Verstappen's record $0.7M loss after Australia. In an effort to drive smoother price changes, the game will now consider the previous three races. It remains unclear if the asset tiers and normalized points ratios discovered last season will still apply, but this is unprecedented transparency on how price changes will work and addresses a second major area of concern from the Community Survey.

This change presents a big opportunity: fantasy players can now focus their transfers on drivers coming off of two strong races with the hope of benefitting from a value change. This is the first time strategists can plan for value changes since driver sentiment dictated price changes back in 2022.

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Increased Pit Stop Points

Previously, F1 Fantasy awarded points for the fastest (10), second fastest (5), and third fastest (3) pit stops each race. The game completely overhauled this category in 2025 and placed a greater emphasis on constructors. The fastest pit stop now receives 5 points and every constructor is eligible for an additional bonus: pit stops faster than 2.0 seconds receive 20 points, between 2.00 and 2.19 seconds earn 10 points, between 2.20 and 2.49 seconds earn 5 points , and between 2.50 and 2.99 seconds score 3 points. This bonus only applies to the fastest pit stop for each constructor. If any team breaks the all time pit stop record (McLaren, 1.8 seconds) they earn an additional 15 points, however the previous record held for nearly 4 years.

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Looking back at the 739 pit stops from 2024, this scoring change would have added over 750 fantasy points across the ten constructors - a clear sign that fantasy strategists will need a strong constructor core to succeed this year. Red Bull would have scored 99 more points last year from pit stops alone, followed by McLaren (94) and Mercedes (88) - the appeal of the "big 4" constructors will be stronger than ever with this change.

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Inactive Driver Penalties Continue

When Williams dropped Logan Sargeant, it revealed a loophole in the game that allowed teams to carry an inactive driver. Sargeant's price was so low at the time of his exit that he served as a cheap and risk-free back marker for the Italian Grand Prix. F1 Fantasy responded midseason by issuing the Not Classified penalty to every event for inactive drivers, which effectively closed the loophole.

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To get ahead of the issue in 2025, inactive drivers will once again receive the Not Classified penalty for every scoring session. If a driver misses a race due to penalty points, injuries, or mid-season swaps, be sure to remove them from your fantasy lineup immediately to avoid losing points.

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Be sure to check out our F1 Fantasy Guides for details on how to use the six powerup chips, how to grow your team budget, and much more. If you have questions be sure to join The Fantasy Formula community by downloading the FanAmp app. You can also watch The Fantasy Formula on the official FanAmp YouTube channel every race week for detailed lineup advice, exclusive interviews, and a breakdown of the latest news.