Piastri: Apparently the Saturday sprints are mine!

Oscar Piastri on his impressions after winning the Saturday sprint in Qatar…

Question: In Belgium you finished second in the sprint, in Qatar you won. How do you feel now?
Oscar Piastri: I’m happy. Apparently Saturday sprints are for me! I had a good start and was able to finish first. It was interesting to watch those who chose Soft. I thought I was going to be in trouble because of their speed, but they quickly lost it. So yes, I’m very happy.

Q: The race turned out to be eventful. Were you sure you could win with Medium tires?
Oscar Piastri: The safety car visits made it difficult to judge this – at these times the tires cooled down considerably. Carlos tried to overtake me, but then rolled back, George lost pace from lap to lap – and I realized that I was doing well.

Everything depended on how quickly Max would break through and how quickly Lando would fight back. The situation was tense at times, but I’m glad I stuck with it until the end.

Q: At what point in the race did you become wary of Max rather than George Russell on the Soft?
Oscar Piastri: Just before the last safety car. To be honest, he left very early for me. I knew I had to create as big a gap as possible while Max stood behind George. And I managed to break free.

With eight to ten laps to go I thought it would be difficult to keep the lead, so thanks again to the safety car.

Q: Will the information gathered on Saturday help in Sunday’s race?
Oscar Piastri: Yes, we learned a lot of new things. The Soft tires worked well at the start, but then lost momentum. It’s great that there were no flat tires. The wind died down a bit.

The safety car visits showed the pace was irregular, we understood how tires behave at different temperatures, which is very useful. But a completely different race awaits us on Sunday.

Q: Max said that at the start he and Lando were quite concerned about the Soft riders’ progress. How did you manage to avoid this? And what did you think at the very end, when there were still two or three laps to go and Max was getting closer?
Oscar Piastri: I think I have a better start than Lando and Max. And then the safety car came out. When George took charge I thought I was in big trouble; his car held much better on the track thanks to the Soft tires. So yeah, it was difficult. It was important to stay ahead of the Ferrari in the first corner. If I had stayed behind I would have been in trouble.

When Max is behind you, you don’t feel very calm. But our pace was faster than I expected. And of course I attacked with all my might.

Q: How did you feel when you reached the finish line? Relief, happiness, joy?
Oscar Piastri: Of course I was happy to win the sprint. But it’s a bit of a strange feeling because I won, but not the race. But no, I’m very happy. A good day. I was very satisfied with the way I handled the situation.

Question: In a race, the FIA ​​​​may oblige everyone to drive a distance with three pit stops. What do you think?
Oscar Piastri: In the sprint we could not assess the behavior of the tires, as we drove many laps behind the safety car. I am sure Pirelli and the FIA ​​will make a wise decision for Sunday’s race.

Obviously if a tire loses pressure in a fast section… There are big safety zones, but obviously no one wants that problem during a race.

It’s encouraging that Pirelli and the FIA ​​are willing to do something to keep us safe. Yes, of course it would be better if this didn’t happen at all. But now there’s little we can do about it.