Race Week Rewind: Monza

Franco Colapinto’s promotion to F1 stole headlines this week, but there is plenty more to unpack to prepare our lineups for Monza. Here’s the F1 Fantasy news you might have missed ahead of the lineup lock deadline.

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Franco Colapinto Joins the Game

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At $4.8M Colapinto enters at the same price as the outgoing Logan Sargeant. At $4.5M last season, the game stopped decreasing Sargeant’s price so the rookie may turn into a high-upside asset soon. As for Sargeant, a loophole in the game unlocks a huge advantage for strategists that ran the American last weekend.

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While teams are unable to add Sargeant, those that currently feature him can make additional transfers and save their lineups. Since he has no way to score negative points or lose value, an inactive Sargeant may be safer than both Sauber assets. Running both $4.8M Williams drivers opens up a ton of cost cap space to roster super teams like this one:

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Upgrade Watch

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On Thursday Ferrari announced upgrades:

• Ferrari announced a major upgrade package at Zandvoort last week and all signs point to a significant push to contend this weekend. Initial reports suggest several changes to the floor and rear beam wing as well as a circuit-specific low-drag rear wing
• Since no other teams are rumored to bring upgrades ahead of Free Practice, now is a good time to mention that the circuit itself underwent changes earlier this year. Several curbs were flattened, allowing drivers to take wider lines through T9 and T10 at higher speeds and Monza also underwent resurfacing. The main DRS zone was also extended with the hopes of inciting more overtakes.

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Weather Update (Thursday Evening)

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While the forecast predicts no rain, the extreme heat poses a few risks. Temperatures in the car can exceed 100°F and push drivers to the brink of heat stroke, as we saw at Qatar last season. Tire and brake temperatures will also reach critical levels and, if not carefully managed, could result in reliability failures on Sunday.

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Pirelli Tire Report

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The lowest downforce rating of the season will inspire some unusually small rear wings as teams look to reduce drag as much as possible. A one-stop race means we shouldn’t expect the surge of overtakes from offsetting tire strategies as we saw at Zandvoort.

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The Fantasy Formula Live

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Adam and Terry will be joined by Zach F1 this Saturday, August 24th at 9AM EST/1PM BST for the Deadline Live Stream where we'll answer all your questions before lineups lock. Be sure to head over to the FanAmp app to share your lineup in The Fantasy Formula base and have it reviewed during the broadcast. See you there!

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