Race Week Preview: Japanese Grand Prix

Mercedes lead the championship after back-to-back one-twos. Here is your F1 Fantasy watchlist for Suzuka.

THE SETUP

Two races in, Mercedes are running away with this. George Russell leads the championship, Kimi Antonelli is the reigning race winner, and Ferrari are the only team consistently sharing the podium. For F1 Fantasy managers, the message from the first two rounds is clear — the Silver Arrows are the spine of any competitive team right now. Japan is where we find out if that holds on one of the most technically demanding circuits in the world.

THE CIRCUIT

Suzuka is a flowing, high-downforce layout where overtaking is notoriously difficult. Tyre management through the Esses and Sector 2 is critical, with one-stop strategies common. Safety car deployments are reasonably frequent, particularly in wet conditions, which could shake up scoring unpredictably.

THE WEATHER

Rain is forecast across all three days with temperatures expected around 15-17°C. Wet Suzuka is a different race entirely — it introduces safety cars, variable strategies and the kind of chaos that can either spike or sink your week. If qualifying runs in the wet, grid positions become unpredictable and that changes the positions gained calculation for Sunday entirely.

THE WEEKLY WATCHLIST

🟢 BUY

Oliver Bearman

Best PPM in the game after two rounds. Haas have been genuinely competitive in 2026's new regulations and Oliver Bearman is driving with real confidence. At his price he gives you flexibility to load up on premium picks elsewhere — he is the standout budget buy of the season so far.

Kimi Antonelli

Still underpriced relative to what he's delivering. Race winner in China, two podiums in two rounds, and he's your strongest 2x Boost candidate not named George Russell. If you don't have him, get him before the price ceiling catches up with his points total.

🟡 HOLD

George Russell

Pole and win in Australia, sprint win and P2 in China. You already know the answer. Hold him through Suzuka — Max Verstappen's four-race winning streak here came in a different era with a very different car.

Arvid Lindblad

Scored on debut in Australia and the DNS in China was a mechanical issue, not a performance problem. Racing Bulls should suit Suzuka better than Shanghai's high-speed straights. Hold and see what Friday brings.

🔴 SELL

Max Verstappen

Four straight wins at Suzuka sounds compelling — it isn't, not in this car. He called the Red Bull undriveable in China and nothing suggests a rapid fix before Japan. His price tag is impossible to justify against the points he's realistically delivering right now.

Gabriel Bortoleto

DNS in China wiped out the momentum he built with a points finish in Australia. Audi are still finding their feet with the new regulations and Gabriel Bortoleto's price doesn't yet reflect the uncertainty around his weekend-to-weekend reliability.

THE CHIPS

Suzuka's unpredictability in wet conditions makes Limitless a risk this week — you want clean, predictable scoring to maximise that chip. However, if weather conditions improve, there could be an opportunity to use it here given the limited overtaking opportunities at Suzuka. If rain is expected during the Grand Prix, consider deploying No Negative — Suzuka is a technically challenging circuit across three demanding sessions and wet conditions historically produce higher than expected retirements, making this one of the strongest use cases for that chip.