The new Formula One season is here, and that means F1 Fantasy is back.

The game will see millions of motor sport fans pick their fantasy selection of drivers for an imaginary $100m budget.

F1 Fantasy began four years ago and it has grown rapidly in popularity. The 2022 season will reward those players who are able to spot the early trends as F1’s fresh regulations shake up the grid.

How to play Fantasy F1 2022

Each player gets to pick five drivers and one constructor ahead of the first race of the season in Bahrain, spending a budget of $100m.

They also pick a weekly ‘turbo driver’ whose points are doubled – that driver cannot be worth more than $20m, however. And there is a ‘mega driver’ chip which can be used three times during the season to triple the points of any one driver in the team.

The main championship contenders like Lewis Hamilton ($33.5m) and Max Verstappen ($24.5) will set you back a substantial portion of your budget, so managing your money and finding the value picks is key. Driver prices will fluctuate over the season based on performance and popularity in the fantasy game.

Players can make up to three changes to their team per week, up until the start of qualifying.

Fantasy F1 tips

One key to success in Fantasy F1 is riding the price waves and increasing the value of your team. You can do this by identifying the best value picks each week, and also by buying and selling strategically – so buy a successful driver at the end of a race on Sunday and sell him on later the following week for a profit.

It’s worth biding your time when it comes to making your final substitutions, however. Practice on Friday will generally reveal plenty about what to go down in qualifying, so waiting as long as possible to soak up information will help in making the right decisions each week.

Given the budgetary restrictions, and the fact that most players will have some combination of Hamilton, Verstappen, Mercedes or Red Bull, the area to get a jump on the rest is in the midfield pack.

Will Ferrari come to the fore? Can McLaren be the best of the rest? What about AlphaTauri, who have tested well and have an excellent talent in Pierre Gasly? Choose the best driver in their own team in order to pick up ‘beat team mate’ points so try to avoid those duos who are evenly matched.

How does the scoring work?

Qualifying:

Q1 Finish

1pt

Q2 Finish

2pt

Q3 Finish

3pts

Qualified ahead of teammate (driver only)

2pt

Did not qualify

-5pts

Disqualification from qualifying

-10pt

Qualifying Position Bonuses:

pole position

10 points

2nd place

9 points

3rd place

8pt

4th place

7 points

5th place

6 points

6th place

5pts

7th place

4pts

8th place

3pts

9th place

2pt

10th place

1pt

Race:

Finished Race

1pt

Per position gained (max. +10 pts)

2pt

Finished ahead of teammate (driver only)

3pts

Fastest lap

5pts

Per position lost (max. -10 pts)

-2pt

Not classified

-10pt

Disqualification from race

-20pt

* Race Positions Gained: Race positions gained are relative to Qualifying finishing position or Sprint finishing position where applicable.

** Classification: Cars that have covered 90% of the number of laps covered by the winner (rounded down to the nears whole number of laps) will be deemed to have finished the race. Cars that have covered less than 90% of the number of laps covered by the winner (rounded down to the nearest whole number of laps), will not be classified. Classifications are based on FIA decisions

Race Position Bonuses:

1st place

25 points

2nd place

18 points

3rd place

15 points

4th place

12pt

5th place

10 points

6th place

8pt

7th place

6 points

8th place

4pts

9th place

2pt

10th place

1pt

streams:

Driver Qualifying – driver qualifies in the Top 10 for 5 qualifying sessions in a row

5pts

Driver Race – driver finishes in the Top 10 for 5 races in a row

10 points

Constructor Qualifying – both drivers qualify in the Top 10 for 3 qualifying sessions in a row

5pts

Constructor Race – both drivers finish in the Top 10 for 3 races in a row

10 points

* When a driver or constructor achieves a streak, that streak will reset and must be built up again. For example: A driver achieves five top tens in a row and will be awarded a streak, but must achieve another five top tens in a row to get streak points for a second time.

** Sprint is excluded from Streaks calculations.

Sprint:

Finished Sprint

1pt

Per Position Gained (max. +5 pts)

1pt

Finished ahead of team-mate (driver only)

2pt

Fastest lap

3pts

Per Position Lost (max. -5 pts)

-1pt

Not classified

-5pts

Disqualification from Sprint

-10pt

* Sprint Positions Gained: Sprint positions gained are relative to Qualifying finishing position.

** Sprint is excluded from Streaks calculations.

Sprint Position Bonuses:

1st place

10 points

2nd place

9 points

3rd place

8pt

4th place

7 points

5th place

6 points

6th place

5pts

7th place

4pts

8th place

3pts

9th place

2pt

10th place

1pt