In the weeks before the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, back in October of 2023, McLaren CEO Zak Brown looked me square in the eye and made a straightforward declaration about the team’s driver pairing of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Oscar Piastri has signed a “multi-year” contract extension with McLaren. The F1 team made the announcement five days before the first race of the new season at Piastri’s home Australian Grand Prix.

To ward off interest from its Formula 1 rivals, McLaren will shell out a massive $20 million a year to Oscar Piastri with his new deal, according to a report. Piastri’s former deal was approximately worth $6 million a year and ran until the end of 2026.