Motor Manager 2026 Round 13 Preview

Motor Manager Round 13 preview: best buys, hidden gems and who to sell

Motor Manager returns from the summer break with the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday 5 September, and the deadline is 16:00 on race day. Ten races remain. Everyone already owns a top-four driver or two, so this preview spends most of its time where the round is actually won: the pit crew slot, the second constructor, and the cheap driver seats that fill out the seven contracts.

The single most valuable thing in the game right now is a pit crew that almost nobody owns. All numbers below come from our model's round 13 projection, refreshed after Zandvoort, and every price is the current Motor Manager value.

The pit crew slot is the biggest swing in the game

Pit crews out-project every driver and every constructor for round 13, and the top of the class is barely owned. That is the whole opportunity.

McLaren (11.87m) is the top pick. 275k is the highest projection of any item in the game this round, and only 5.3% of managers hold it - the largest gap between value and ownership on the board. Ferrari (11.60m) is the form alternative: 945 points across the last three races with published scores is more than any other pit crew, and at 12.3% ownership it is still a differential.

If the premium slots elsewhere are eating your budget, Cadillac (4.91m) is the standout cheap route. 20.65 points per million is within touching distance of Ferrari's 21.46 at 42% of the price, and 2.4% ownership makes it the least-owned useful item in the game. Aston Martin (5.90m, 105k, 2.6% owned) does a similar job. What you must not do is pay up for Williams (7.19m, 103k) - that is the same projection Haas gives you at 6.33m and Cadillac at 4.91m, and the worst pit-crew value in the field at 14.28 PPM.

Constructors: the most-owned pick is not the best one

McLaren (11.82m) projects highest and costs less than Mercedes - a straight upgrade on both axes over the most-owned item in Motor Manager. Mercedes sits at 50.1% ownership on the strength of a 3242-point season, but the model has it second this round and it is the single most expensive constructor.

Ferrari (10.42m) is the value premium: 180k for 1.4m less than McLaren, and 812 points over the last three scored races - the best constructor form in the field. Below the big four the class falls off a cliff, so the second constructor slot is mostly a budget decision. Racing Bulls (3.93m) is the best of the cheap group at 6.82 PPM off a 929-point season; Haas (4.35m) and Williams (5.31m) are the two to leave alone - both project 11k and both have managed 15 points across the last three races.

Drivers: four slots, and only two of them are obvious

Lando Norris (12.43m) is the best driver in the game for round 13 on both raw projection and value - 248k and 19.95 PPM, the highest of any premium driver - and he took 355 points in the last race with published scores, his best of the season. At 19.8% ownership he is not close to being a template pick yet.

Lewis Hamilton (10.46m) is the value premium. He is the cheapest driver in the top six and still projects 174k, which is 16.67 PPM - better than Leclerc, Piastri, Verstappen and Antonelli, all of whom cost more.

Charles Leclerc (11.62m) is the form call. 895 points across the last three scored races is the best of any driver in the field, and the model still only has him fifth this round, so the pick is a bet on that form continuing rather than on the projection.

The differential premium is Oscar Piastri (12.11m). 175k at 10.4% ownership means he is the only driver in the top four of the projection that most of the field does not have. His 325-point return over the last three races is the risk you are taking.

Isack Hadjar (9.00m) remains the best mid-price driver in the game. 111k is a big number for a non-premium, his 12.38 PPM beats Verstappen's, and he has scored between 155 and 195 in each of his last five races with published points. He is the natural way to fund a second premium elsewhere.

Budget drivers: where the seven contracts actually balance

You need cheap seats, and four of them are worth real money this round:

• Arvid Lindblad (4.04m, 36k) - 8.93 PPM, the best of any budget driver, off a 1042-point season. The catch is 37.7% ownership, so he is a floor pick rather than an edge.
• Gabriel Bortoleto (4.47m, 36k) - almost the same projection at 8.01 PPM, but only 11.4% owned. 371 points across the last three scored races. This is the differential version of the same slot.
• Nico Hulkenberg (4.54m, 36k) - 7.97 PPM, and 135 points in the last race with published scores, his best single result of the season.
• Lance Stroll (3.78m, 26k) - the cheapest driver worth owning at 6.78 PPM, and the enabler if you want two premium pit-and-constructor slots.

Hidden gems and differentials for round 13

Ownership is where league position gets decided, and four items combine a top-class projection with a field that has not noticed:

1. McLaren pit crew (11.87m, 275k, 5.3% owned) - the highest projection in the game, held by one manager in twenty.
2. Cadillac pit crew (4.91m, 101k, 2.4% owned) - 20.65 PPM, essentially premium efficiency at a budget price.
3. Oscar Piastri (12.11m, 175k, 10.4% owned) - the lowest-owned driver in the projection's top four.
4. Aston Martin pit crew (5.90m, 105k, 2.6% owned) - 17.73 PPM and 275 points over the last three scored races, at a price that frees up a premium slot.

You can compare every one of these against the full field on the Motor Manager player picks page, and check the round-by-round calendar on the Motor Manager schedule.

Who to sell before round 13

These are the popular holdings whose projection no longer justifies the price:

• Kimi Antonelli (11.76m, 163k) - the most-owned driver in the game at 54.5%, and only seventh in the round 13 projection. Two drivers are both cheaper and project higher: Hamilton (10.46m) and Leclerc (11.62m). The season total of 3260 is real, but you are paying for it twice over.
• Max Verstappen (12.99m, 164k) - 12.60 PPM is the worst of the seven premium drivers. Norris costs less and projects 84k more.
• Mercedes constructor (12.74m, 210k) - the McLaren constructor is cheaper and projects 14k higher. At 50.1% ownership this is the definition of a pick you hold because everyone else does.
• Carlos Sainz (5.65m, 20k) - 18.1% ownership for 3.54 PPM, and 43 points across the last three scored races. Alexander Albon (5.93m, 20k) is worse still at 3.39 PPM, and Oliver Bearman (5.75m, 20k) sits in the same bracket. Any of the four budget drivers above gives you a similar score for 1.5-2m less.

What an optimal round 13 squad looks like

Solving the seven contracts for maximum round 13 points inside the 68.0m budget gives 1225k, and the shape of the answer is instructive: three premium non-driver slots, two premium drivers, two minimum-price seats.

Total 67.62m of a 68.0m budget. Treat it as a structural benchmark rather than a shopping list - with ten races left, contracts spent now are contracts you do not have in Las Vegas or Qatar. The live version, re-solved against the current projection every time you load it, is on the Motor Manager optimal teams page, and you can test your own line-up against it under My Team.

How to play the run-in

Three principles carry over from the first half of the season. First, the pit crew slot is the most under-priced position in Motor Manager - it out-projects the drivers and the field consistently under-owns the good ones. Second, correlated picks work when the underlying car is fast: pairing a constructor with its own pit crew doubles down on the same weekend, and McLaren currently tops both classes. Third, never stack for the sake of correlation - a second item from a team you already own has to be a good pick on its own, and Racing Bulls or Cadillac at the bottom of the market are only worth it on their own value.

More Motor Manager analysis, including the round 12 preview, sits in our Motor Manager preview hub. If you are new to the game, start with our Motor Manager strategy guide or browse the full guides library, and see how the projections have held up on the model performance page.

FAQ

Who is the best pick in Motor Manager round 13?

The McLaren pit crew at 11.87m. It projects 275k for the Italian Grand Prix, the highest of any driver, constructor or pit crew in the game, and only 5.3% of managers own it. Ferrari's pit crew at 11.60m is the form alternative with 945 points across the last three races with published scores.

Who is the best driver to buy for round 13?

Lando Norris at 12.43m. He leads the driver projection at 248k and has the best value of any premium driver at 19.95 points per million, and he took 355 points in the last race with published scores. Lewis Hamilton at 10.46m is the cheaper route into the top group at 174k and 16.67 PPM.

What are the best differentials in Motor Manager round 13?

The McLaren pit crew (5.3% owned, 275k), the Cadillac pit crew (2.4% owned, 101k at 4.91m), Oscar Piastri (10.4% owned, 175k) and Gabriel Bortoleto (11.4% owned, 36k at 4.47m). All four combine a competitive projection with ownership well below the items around them.

Should I sell Kimi Antonelli before round 13?

The case for selling is strong. He is the most-owned driver in Motor Manager at 54.5% and costs 11.76m, but the model has him seventh among drivers for round 13 at 163k. Both Hamilton (10.46m, 174k) and Leclerc (11.62m, 171k) are cheaper and project higher, so the downgrade releases budget without costing projected points.

This preview was written by TheFantasyTool AI - verified by Nicolai @ TheFantasyTool