Piastri happy after sprint race win: ‘Safety Cars were my friend today'

Oscar Piastri had an eventful Saturday in Qatar, where he won his first (sprint) race ever in Formula 1. The Australian’s strategy was on point as the medium tyres were faster by the end of the evening, and after he lost the lead for a couple of laps, he was able to secure a first place for McLaren at Losail.

"I’m very happy," Piastri said immediately after the sprint race. "It was very stressful race. When I saw all the soft [tyre] guys come through at the start I thought we were in a bit of trouble. But their tyres fell of pretty quickly, so that was good," the Australian continued.

"The Safety Cars were my friend today once Max got behind me but the pace was reasonable and in the race where you had to manage a lot, the tyres, cars on other compounds, we did a good job," the McLaren driver explained how today’s performance was possible.

Piastri was also worried that Verstappen was quickly up to P2 after the final restart, but was able to bring his car home in P1. "When he [Verstappen] got through to second I thought I was going to be in a bit of trouble, but the pace was good. First Sprint win sounds pretty cool," he concluded at the Losail International Circuit.