Oscar Piastri Offers Max Verstappen to Answer All His Media Questions, but for a ‘Fee’

Besides getting the results on the track, F1 drivers also need to attend media interviews and help promote their team’s brands. While most drivers relish the idea of being the face of their teams and getting the opportunity to give interviews, Max Verstappen is never keen on doing so.

It was just last year when in a new ViaPlay series — Max Verstappen: Off the beaten track — he explained that he carries out his media duties only because it is mandatory.

The 27-year-old added that since most of the questions are repetitive, he keeps his brain activity at 1% and delivers the same responses so that he can focus on more important things on his plate, such as planning for the race.

So, it goes without saying that Verstappen would love for someone else to handle his media duties. When McLaren’s Oscar Piastri offered him this opportunity, the Dutchman said he was also willing to pay a fee for it.

The conversation began with Sky Sports’ David Croft asking Piastri and Verstappen how important race strategy is for a Grand Prix. The Australian began by giving a lengthy response, explaining how the role of both the strategists and the drivers is equally important to maximize the results.

Verstappen, seated beside Piastri, simply told the McLaren driver that his reply was “brilliant” and he had nothing else to add. A perfect short reply from a driver who could easily do without having to talk to the press.

Piastri, sensing an opportunity, immediately told the four-time champion, “If you pay a fee, I can do all your answers“. Verstappen, thrilled with the suggestion, offered the Melbourne-born driver a ‘contract’ without even thinking much about it.

“I mean that would actually…you want to sign a contract? You’re good at it,” the Red Bull driver told Piastri. “Can just make a little side letter”.

Piastri’s offer, if actually materialized in reality, will certainly help Verstappen solve one of the many concerns that he has with the way F1 is evolving.

When Verstappen called Las Vegas GP 1% racing, 99% show

There is no current or past F1 driver like Verstappen who candidly criticizes the things he does not like about the sport. The 27-year-old is an old-school driver who enjoys traditional races such as Spa and Suzuka and likes to just stick to business rather than attempting to woo the fans by trying to do something different than racing.

So, when F1 decided to put on a huge show at the inaugural Las Vegas GP in 2023, he was far from happy. “For me, you can skip this,” Verstappen said while expressing his discontent about the opening ceremony party held in Vegas for the race weekend.

“We are just standing up there, looking like a clown. I mean, yeah…”, he added. The Dutchman had stated how the Vegas weekend was focusing on the spectacle more, deeming it 1% racing and 99% show.

And perhaps more importantly, what Verstappen dislikes about F1 today is that drivers are not even allowed to be themselves. Because of the FIA’s crackdown on swearing, the 27-year-old explained in multiple interviews last year how such bans limit drivers from expressing their true emotions while in the cockpit.

Verstappen definitely knows what it is like being on the receiving end of the FIA, having received a community service punishment for swearing during the 2024 Singapore GP presser. Referring to the punishment as “silly,” he threatened to quit F1 if this is the trajectory that the sport continues on when drivers will be scrutinized for every little error they make.