How to Reach the Top of the Global League with Leapers One

[Editor's Note: After this interview, Andrew went on to win the 2024 F1 Fantasy Global League]

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FanAmp: How long have you been playing F1 Fantasy and have you ever achieved success like this before?  

Leapers One: I have been playing F1 Fantasy since 2023. I was introduced to F1 Fantasy by the Banano community. Banano is a cryptocurrency that is feeless, instant, and rich in potassium. I won their league last season earning 5000 BAN which is currently around $19. The team was ranked 244th in the world so it was a great season for a new player, even though I benefited from an easy mode at the beginning of the season. I also won the Reddit Predictions Tournament for r/NASCAR the one year it was run.

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FanAmp: Was there a specific race or lineup decision that launched your team to the top of the Global League?  

Leapers One: Many different lineup decisions impacted my climb to the top of the global league. One of the first key moves I made was taking Bearman for the Saudi Arabian GP. As soon as I saw he was priced at $14 million I saw an overpowered asset, as Ferrari was the second fastest car at the time. From last season, I was familiar with how assets changed in price behavior at $15 million and that also factored into the decision.

The other key move I made was abandoning Ferrari completely for Canada. That decision probably was the boldest decision I made all season, as I decided to run Mercedes and abandon Ferrari based off a single practice. The data was very limited but I realized it was a pretty accurate indicator and even if it rained, a cold track would benefit Mercedes and hurt Ferrari. Also I felt McLaren was too important at that time to get rid of as they demonstrated they could be good in all conditions, despite being a Tier A asset.

It was a huge risk because even if it broke even I would have had to deal with a completely new team in Spain, however since I still had the Wildcard I was willing to make an aggressive move that felt correct for the given race week. After that race week I moved up to 19th and it is when I got close to the top. A strong differential of running Hamilton in Spain launched me to 3rd, and after that I have been in the Top 5 for the past 3 weeks.

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FanAmp: Which chips do you have left and are you targeting specific races to use them?  

Leapers One: I currently have all chips left except Limitless which I used in China. 3X DRS and No Negative are each being used in one of the final 3 sprints. 3X DRS is being used when I can identify the top 2 drivers and preferably with a team structure I am already using. Watching COTA or Brazil as an opportunity for that chip, prefer not to wait for the last race on this one.

Not using No Negative has burned me twice in a row, but I am committed to using it as a last minute move to overcome an unexpected DNF near the end of the season. It is possible by that point each DNF would be -40 since I would be hit by the driver and constructor for a greater percentage of them. Plus Sprints have random DNFs and also more opportunities to DNF which could be a bigger overall point swing.

For Autopilot, I am trying to hold out till I have as many options as possible on my team to choose as a 2X DRS driver. I probably might use it in a race where I have 3 strong drivers but don’t know which one will win or score the most. Singapore maybe is an Autopilot track but it could be anywhere.

Final Fix is a strange one since I wanted to use it creatively as some sort of budget bridge early on, but didn’t really have an opportunity where I felt it would fit. Was hoping for more drivers to cross the white line in Austria qualifying with that one. Final Fix probably is going to only be used for DNS emergencies or when I make a mistake that can be corrected through Final Fix. Wildcard is a chip I am surprised I haven’t used yet. I probably am going to try to save it for a potential future meta shift or late season as a way to reduce down the Tier C drivers and add an additional Tier A or B driver.

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FanAmp: How do you strike a balance between scoring maximum points and building your cost cap?  

Leapers One: I strike a balance of building budget and maximum points by thinking about what the team could build to in the future. A common mistake I have seen made by players is they stick in a bunch of cheap assets so they can squeeze in 1 very strong asset. Having a balanced team is important for budget growth, also by having some consistency on your budget drivers it minimizes swaps and you can prioritize making adjustments to the important assets in your team such as drivers or even constructors. Basically move up to the next build when you are confident in your budget drivers instead of rushing into it with Sargeant and Bottas.

I am more focused on points on the constructor side, but am aggressive with building budget with drivers. For example, I did not run an A Tier Driver until Spain, the 10th race of the season. For the early part of the season I relied on picking the best driver that wasn’t Verstappen for the team. This was important as not only did I gain more budget from using a Tier B driver, I was able to fit in stronger Tier C drivers. In conclusion the best way to build budget is to have a balanced team, but maximum is more top heavy. Recognizing when to go top heavy, which is better later in the season, is important.

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FanAmp: The recent tripleheader brought a lot of chaos to fantasy strategists around the world. What advice would you give the players that experienced setbacks during this stretch?  
Leapers One: Advice I would give to Fantasy managers who have had a tough time the past couple of weeks is to regroup and figure out what went wrong. If your team is way off from the ideal team it could be a good time to use your Wildcard. Of course you have to use it correctly because if not it could put you still off from ideal and only 2 transfers. However, it is possible your team is fine and you just got unlucky.

For example, in Miami I ran Norris and Stroll and had them both DNF in the Sprint. I fell from 39th to around 250th that week and was disappointed, however Norris showed speed throughout the weekend and in the race which demonstrated to me that the team structure had potential. The next week the meta became Ferrari/McLaren and by running Norris the previous week it put me ahead on swaps so I could run him in my Imola team, where many swap-limited managers could only fit in Leclerc. Basically recognition of what went wrong can help you become a better fantasy manager for future weeks.

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FanAmp: Do you use any tools, websites, or F1 Fantasy content creators to guide your lineup decisions?  

Leapers One: I do listen to F1 Fantasy creators a decent amount. I pretty much watch every single one of them. However, I do make my own decisions and mainly use it as a guide so I can see if some of my crazy ideas are too much. I had too much hype about Bearman and almost 2Xed him as an example. I also was thinking in the shower about abandoning Ferrari in Canada after FP3 and seeing reassurance that I am not the only one doing that can help make a crazy move seem reasonable. I do use Rhter’s tools a lot as well, as it show predictions of how various teams can do and as I used it more I have looked into the other charts posted with the simulations to understand race pace and price rise percentage.

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FanAmp: Looking ahead to Hungary, do you plan to stick with McLaren and Mercedes or will Max and Red Bull come back on the menu?  

Leapers One: I plan on sticking with McLaren and Mercedes for Hungary. I don’t think it is worth it to run Red Bull and probably will wait for future opportunities. Looking back the past few years Mercedes has done well at Hungary so this doesn’t seem like the race to not run them, plus I prefer to have Norris or McLaren right now. However, I am open to running HAM RUS PIA in Hungary as it is a low overtake track which means it favors running more premium drivers, but the downside of abandoning better Tier Cs makes it a little risky.

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FanAmp: Max Verstappen took engine penalties in two of the last three Belgian Grands Prix and set season-high fantasy totals each time. If Max elects to take the penalty again at Belgium, would you consider Max then or have McLaren and Mercedes made it harder to crack the podium starting outside the top 5?

Leapers One: With Spa, it is more interesting. I do think Max would be stronger at Spa than the previous few races, however starting further back with a 10 place grid penalty I predict he doesn’t win the race and Norris does instead. I do think it is worth considering and the team is in transfer range for it so I should not be caught off guard if I see data that changes my mind. Also how I would implement it is a question as well, both Red Bull and Verstappen, just Verstappen, or just Red Bull all have pros and cons worth considering.

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