The hosts of the famous Pitstop podcast have revealed that McLaren pays Oscar Piastri a whopping $114,000 a week ($460,000 in a month) in salary. Since the Australian has such a lucrative contract, the hosts have attempted to break down what all the 22-year-old can do with his weekly salary.
While speaking on their most recent episode of the Pitstop podcast, the hosts said with a laugh, “Every month he can buy a three-bedroom house in Norwich. Every week he could buy 10 Fiat Punto. Every day he could buy 2,327 steaks from Tesco Express“.
Piastri, who has a net worth of $4 million, does not have a need for the things that the hosts mentioned, of course. However, the hypothetical purchases were brought forward, only to put into context, how much the Melbourne-born driver makes.
McLaren decided to provide Piastri with an upgraded deal after the Australian’s outstanding rookie season last year. Other than registering two podiums and finishing ninth in the championship, Piastri also won a sprint race.
Piastri’s new deal is a three-year extension that will keep him at Woking until the end of 2026. McLaren perhaps offered Piastri such a deal to prevent rival sides from signing the highly talented 22-year-old.
Piastri also seems to have carried over his form to 2024 as he registered a fantastic fourth-place finish in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago. As a result of his top-four finish, he now finds himself fifth in the championship with 16 points, four points ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris.
Can Oscar Piastri continue to threaten Lando Norris at McLaren?
Last season, the only thing seemingly holding Piastri back in races compared to teammate Lando Norris was the former’s poor race management. F1 expert Karun Chandhok also pointed out the same on one of the segments for Sky Sports’ YouTube channel.
Chandhok stated, “I think when you still look at the race pace, that has been his (Piastri’s) Achilles heel”. However, if the Australian’s performance in Jeddah this year was anything to go by, it seems that the 22-year-old has improved his race pace.
After struggling to pass Lewis Hamilton for the majority of the race, Piastri chose to remain patient and overtook the Briton when the 39-year-old made his mandatory pit stop. On the other hand, Lando Norris in the other McLaren struggled to match his teammate throughout the weekend.
Although the 24-year-old was unlucky with the timing of the safety car and chose to try a different strategy, he still was not able to match Piastri’s pace. If Piastri carries on such a high level of form in the races ahead, some experts feel that Norris could consider a move away from McLaren.
In the recent past, reports have emerged that Red Bull have been interested in signing Norris. However, it is the Briton who reportedly rejected the offer from Red Bull, in favor of a contract extension in Woking. While Norris and Piastri seem to have a decent relationship so far, things could all change if McLaren is able to provide the two drivers with a car that is capable of fighting for wins consistently.
