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F1 Fantasy United States GP 2026 Predictions: Austin Picks & Driver Rankings

F1 Grid IQ's published F1 Fantasy projections for the United States Grand Prix, kept as a historical record.

Latest update: October 24, 2026 at 6:45 PM UTC

⏱ These were early projections, published before qualifying — they did not reflect real qualifying results.

Next race: São Paulo Grand Prix 2026 F1 Fantasy predictions · Previous race: Singapore Grand Prix predictions vs. results

Simulations typically update within 30–60 minutes of FP2/FP3 (or FP1/Sprint Qualifying on sprint weekends).

These are F1 Grid IQ's F1 Fantasy predictions for the 2026 United States Grand Prix — expected fantasy points, driver and constructor rankings, and our optimizer's take on that weekend's squad. See how these projections are built on the main F1 Fantasy predictions page, and the full grid ranked on driver & constructor rankings.

Looking for Austin F1 Fantasy picks? This page tracks F1 Grid IQ's F1 Fantasy United States GP 2026 predictions for the race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas: the highest-projected drivers and constructors, and how the United States Grand Prix F1 Fantasy optimizer turns them into a squad for your own budget and roster.

How accurate are our F1 Fantasy predictions?

Through the Mexico City Grand Prix, F1 Grid IQ leads the verified cumulative F1 Fantasy accuracy standings with 916.52 points — 34.19 ahead of 2nd place (F1 Fantasy Tools, 882.33). F1 Fantasy Tools actually had the single highest grade for the Mexico City Grand Prix itself — this reflects cumulative performance across every graded race, not a claim that F1 Grid IQ wins every race.

See full methodology & race-by-race results →

This page is a public preview. F1 Grid IQ Premium ($5/month or $35/year) includes the full rankings, the optimizer, and personalized team tools.

Get the Full F1 Grid IQ Rankings & Optimizer →

F1 Fantasy driver rankings

The top drivers ranked by projected fantasy points for this race — the full grid is in the app.

RankDriverProj. Pts
1Max Verstappen45.4
2Charles Leclerc32.4
3Kimi Antonelli27.5
4Lewis Hamilton27.5
5George Russell17.2

Constructor rankings

The top constructors ranked the same way — the team-pick counterpart to the driver rankings above.

RankConstructorProj. Pts
1Ferrari70.8
2Red Bull70.3
3Mercedes59.3

Race simulations & outlook

A brief read on how this race is shaping up, based on F1 Grid IQ's projections — not a single predicted finishing order.

F1 Grid IQ's pre-race projections made Max Verstappen (Red Bull) the standout pick for the United States Grand Prix, with a projected 45.4 fantasy points.

Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli rounded out the group to watch that weekend.

Value picks

Drivers whose price looks out of step with their projected points for this race — worth a second look.

Based on projected points relative to price, Nico Hulkenberg ($6.6M) and Oliver Bearman ($6.4M) stood out as this race's notable value picks.

United States Grand Prix F1 Fantasy optimizer analysis

What F1 Grid IQ's optimizer weighs when building a squad for this race — not a personalized recommendation.

For the United States Grand Prix, F1 Grid IQ's optimizer weighs every driver and constructor's projected points against price, your remaining budget and transfer cost — not just who's fastest. Nico Hulkenberg and Oliver Bearman are the kind of pick the optimizer tends to favor that week, but the actual recommended squad depends on your own team and budget.

Austin F1 Fantasy picks: best team for the United States Grand Prix

F1 Grid IQ's top-ranked picks for that race weekend, based on the latest published simulation — not a personalized squad.

Based on F1 Grid IQ's latest published simulation, the strongest F1 Fantasy picks for the United States Grand Prix were Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Kimi Antonelli — the top-ranked drivers by projected points that weekend. Ferrari is the top-projected constructor pick.

These are F1 Grid IQ's top picks by raw projection, not a complete team: a real "best team" also has to fit your remaining budget and transfer cost. That's what the optimizer solves once you sign in and sync your own F1 Fantasy team — see every driver and constructor ranked on the driver & constructor rankings page.

That's the public preview. Subscribe to F1 Grid IQ Premium ($5/month or $35/year) to unlock the complete rankings and build your own squad.

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Post-race results & model performance

How F1 Grid IQ's pre-race projections compared to the real United States Grand Prix results, for the drivers shown above:

DriverProjectedActual
Max Verstappen45.427.0
Charles Leclerc32.453.0
Kimi Antonelli27.536.0
Lewis Hamilton27.523.0
George Russell17.29.0

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See also the F1 Fantasy optimizer, predictions & simulations, driver & constructor rankings, the research on what an extra $1M of budget is worth, and our FAQ.