Piastri won twice in F1 2024 for McLaren as his team secured its first constructors’ championship win in 26 years.
The Australian stood on the podium on six other occasions, won the Qatar GP Sprint and finished second in the Sao Paulo equivalent after handing the win to team-mate Lando Norris.
Piastri ended the year fourth in the drivers’ championship with 292 points having remained an outsider for the title until deep into the season.
According to Forbes, that performance came at a hefty price for McLaren which forked out almost $65 million (all figures converted into AUD) in bonuses between its two drivers.
That included more than $27 million to Piastri, on top of an estimated $8.1 million salary.
It meant the Monaco-domiciled 23-year-old pocketed around $35.6 million, propelling him onto F1’s highest paid drivers list for the first time in seventh.
Piastri signed a new McLaren contract in September 2023 in a deal that will take him through to at least the end of F1 2026.
It’s estimated that McLaren will pocket over $340 million in F1 prize money over the course of 2025 as a result of winning the constructors’ championship, with other commercial bonuses in addition to that figure.
Through 2024, McLaren is forecast to have earned only around $260 million as a result of prize money payments.
F1’s highest earning driver was predictably world champion Max Verstappen who picked up $121.5 million, most of which came through his salary and only $24.3 million by way of bonuses.
The same is true for Lewis Hamilton, who lost top spot to Verstappen with earnings of just over $92 million – only $3.2 million of that thought to come from bonuses.
Hamilton has joined Ferrari for F1 2025 on a big money deal that could well see the Englishman reclaim his spot atop the F1 earnings rankings.
Benefitting most from bonuses was Norris, who received more than $37 million on top of his $19.5 million salary.
The Englishman proved Verstappen’s nearest rival for the drivers’ championship in what was a breakthrough season for the McLaren driver.
It left the popular 25-year-old third on Forbes’ list, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc.
Highest paid drivers in F1 2024
| Driver | Total | Salary | Bonus | |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | $ 121.50 | $ 97.20 | $ 24.30 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | $ 92.34 | $ 89.10 | $ 3.24 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | $ 56.70 | $ 19.44 | $ 37.26 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | $ 44.55 | $ 38.88 | $ 5.67 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | $ 43.74 | $ 24.30 | $ 19.44 |
| 6 | George Russell | $ 37.26 | $ 24.30 | $ 12.96 |
| 7 | Oscar Piastri | $ 35.64 | $ 8.10 | $ 27.54 |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | $ 31.59 | $ 19.44 | $ 12.15 |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | $ 30.78 | $ 16.20 | $ 14.58 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | $ 19.44 | $ 16.20 | $ 3.24 |
All figures in AUD, converted at USD 1:AUD 1.62.
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