Chasing Greatness Again: A Former F1 Fantasy Champion Reloads for 2026

In 2024, Andrew Harris achieved F1 Fantasy immortality by winning the Global League. For many, beating 2.5 million teams feels like a mix of elite strategy and once-in-a-lifetime luck, something nearly impossible to replicate. This season, Andrew is out to prove his success is no fluke, storming his way to P17 in the Global League while climbing into the top 10 of the F1 Predict league.

In this exclusive interview, Andrew breaks down his unique approach to the first three races of 2026, outlines his initial strategy for the Miami Grand Prix, and offers a bold prediction about the most popular race for the Limitless chip. Step into the mind of a champion and use his insights to prepare for a crucial stretch of back-to-back Sprint weekends.

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Australia: Setting the Foundation

As he approached the first race in Australia, Andrew identified three underpriced assets and built his lineup around them. "I knew right away I wanted to build around the Haas assets early on. I decided to go for a triple up [Bearman, Ocon, and the Haas constructor], since they were the assets I had the most confidence in getting a price rise. I also rated Haas even stronger in China vs. Australia based off last year’s performances, which is a factor in making me go with Haas over VCARB in Australia."

This approach left Andrew unable to afford the race winner, George Russell, but he pivoted to the duo of Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc with the three Haas assets, Liam Lawson, and the Ferrari constructor. To ensure his 2X Boost doubled the highest score on this team, he played the Autopilot chip. His 230 points in Australia trailed most of the frontrunners, but the foundation of his lineup set the stage for a breakout in the races ahead.

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Limitless and the First Huge Decision

Recognizing the surge of overtakes in Australia and China's historically high overtaking totals, Andrew saw an opportunity to play one of the most powerful chips in F1 Fantasy. "China was an interesting decision that happened due to the unique circumstances of my team. I realized after Australia that the 3X Boost chip would be optimal in China since the amount of overtakes would increase the effectiveness of the chip, and it would be a while till I would be able to use it effectively." 

Andrew predicted that many teams would move to an Antonelli-Mercedes-Ferrari foundation for Miami and Canada, leaving the British, Dutch, and Singapore Grands Prix as the only Sprint weekends left to use the 3X Boost. Concerns over his budget (Silverstone), duration after a long break (Zandvoort), and historically low overtakes (Singapore) inspired Andrew to play the chip uncharacteristically early in China. Overtakes were at an all-time high, budget gains were predictable, and two teams controlled the top of the grid.

Without George Russell, who sportsbooks favored to win once again, Andrew bestowed the 3X Boost on Antonelli and brought in Lewis Hamilton for the 2X Boost. "Antonelli and Hamilton was definitely a unique pairing as they are both viewed as the #2 drivers in their respective teams. However, I made the decision to 3X Kimi as I didn’t have room for Russell and noticed Antonelli was faster than Russell in Australia when they were both in clean air. With Hamilton, I picked him for the ability to get Driver of the Day and he was outperforming Leclerc in China from what I saw during Sprint Qualifying and Practice. I felt like I would be satisfied with the chip even if I didn’t have the race winner since I could maximize the probability of getting the Fastest Lap and Driver of the Day points."

Antonelli won the Chinese Grand Prix and delivered the second highest score in F1 Fantasy history — a legendary performance all multiplied by 3 thanks to Andrew's 3X Boost. The Haas assets erupted for a combined 123 fantasy points as Andrew's team, Leapers Two, finished with 549 points and an immaculate $3.3M value gained. His ascent to the top of the Global League had begun, but Andrew had one more trick up his sleeve before the early season break.

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Doubling Down in Japan

By designing his Australia lineup to maximize cost cap gains, Andrew targeted the Japanese Grand Prix for the biggest chip play of the season: Limitless. At a circuit known for tire degradation and lower overtake totals in previous seasons, Andrew expected a larger scoring gap between Limitless and non-Limitless teams. Once again, he went with Antonelli as his 2X Boosted driver. On his decision to boost the Italian sophomore over George Russell, Andrew said, "Antonelli had a better FP3 and usually that practice session is the most important for Qualifying. I also wasn’t afraid of Kimi pre-FP3 since I noticed he had the Fastest Lap in Japan last season. I also trusted Kimi more for getting Driver of the Day again so I felt it was the higher upside move."

His bold decision paid off, as Antonelli coasted to his second straight Grand Prix win and a grid-leading 50 fantasy points. Andrew's Limitless team scored 387 points on the weekend, a staggering 201-point delta to his non-Limitless team had he made no changes after China, while growing his cost cap $2.9M in the process. He sits just 38 points behind the Global League leader.

For players still holding their Limitless chip, Andrew recommends a differential play with the resurgent McLaren constructor. "I would say Canada is the best option [after Japan]. It is a track where historically Ferrari has not been great but Mercedes has been great. It also is a low overtake Sprint weekend. I definitely think it is possible to build around Mercedes and McLaren for that weekend."

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Looking Ahead to Miami and Canada

Coming out of the break, Andrew plans to make a popular lineup decision for Miami, but it comes at a steep cost. "I will likely head to the ANT-MER-FER meta. Since it is likely I have to take a -20 or Wildcard since I can’t keep Lindblad, and Bearman must go with my current budget, I am thinking of ways to try to get around being meta and being slightly more creative on Wildcard if McLaren are faster, but it is likely common sense prevails and I go to the meta team."

Despite relying on a few bold moves to reach the top of the Global League, Andrew recommends conventional midfield drivers in the races ahead. "Now isn’t the time to go differential — realistically I am fine with Ocon, Lawson, Colapinto, and Hulkenberg for Miami. The only real differential could be Bearman if you have more budget at $109.3M but it is just a transfer out in Canada waiting to happen [due to the budget impact of his Japan DNF], or you are just deciding to take the budget hit in Canada. With Perez, if you have $107.1M-$107.6M I would pick him over Colapinto and with Bottas, if you are broke this could be the week he finally gains value."

Andrew anticipates the first changes to the running order once teams take advantage of Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO). To qualify for an additional homologation upgrade, a constructor's internal combustion engine (ICE) performance must measure between 2 and 4% below the best performing ICE. Constructors whose ICE measures 4% of more below the best performing ICE receive two upgrades this season.

When discussing ADUO's impact on F1 Fantasy, Andrew shared that Ollie Bearman and Nico Hulkenberg could benefit. "A lot of the focus on ADUO is on the frontrunners but it will also impact the midfield as well. Both drivers [Bearman and Hulkenberg] could be more competitive with Gasly more often if they receive a PU upgrade. With the main 2X Boost driver, it definitely could be more tricky if Ferrari or McLaren are suddenly fastest...Mercedes' strength is straights and races like Hungary and Monaco could be the races where you go differential with a Ferrari or McLaren driver with the 2X Boost."

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A Bold Prediction about Monaco

Historically a popular race to use the Limitless chip due to its record low overtaking totals, Andrew cited key risks that could ruin the day for Limitless teams. "It is likely Russell gets pole...and then he loses it lap 1 to a Ferrari or McLaren and is suddenly not winning. Or he just qualifies fourth and gets stuck behind a Haas who had a good start. Monaco is less predictable now due to the race start...not counting the ADUO changes for Monaco."

Threatening the Silver Arrows' lead even further is the new engine testing procedures scheduled to begin on June 1. Intended to end the dispute around testing compression ratios at ambient temperatures, Monaco presents the first test of whether Mercedes can continue their early dominance. Limitless teams should consider McLaren as a differential constructor over Mercedes and Charles Leclerc, winner of back-to-back Driver of the Day awards at his home circuit, as a 2X Boost alternative.

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Andrew's Keys to Success

Andrew's fantasy motorsports history confirms his 2024 success was no fluke. He currently sits P17 in the F1 Fantasy Global League, P7 in the F1 Predict Global League, and 45th in the Fantasy IndyCar game. He won the 2025 GridRival Fantasy NASCAR league and currently posts about all three motorsports on his X account.

After interviewing Andrew on several occassions, including at the end of his 2024 title run and in the 2025 preseason, a few tips for fantasy motorsport success stand out:

• Understand the characteristics of each circuit and the teams and drivers that historically perform best in every situation: long straights vs. low speed corners, rain or shine, and starting from the front or the back of the pack.
• Study each practice session — in F1 Fantasy, he uses long run data from Free Practice 2 to predict race pace and Free Practice 3 to predict the Qualifying order.
• Take tacitcal risks to stand out. Andrew used his biggest chips earlier than ever before this season, while in 2024 run he pioneered the strategy of aggressively building budget early in the season to run powerful lineups in the final races.

Andrew Harris has already proven he can win it all. Now, he's proving he can do it again.