Oscar Piastri described his win in the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint as a “weird feeling” after beating Max Verstappen to the chequered flag.
Australia’s latest F1 winner headed the now-three-time world champion in the Saturday night encounter that saw Lando Norris third in the second McLaren.
Piastri started from pole and led the opening exchanges as Verstappen and Norris found themselves swamped into the first corner.
George Russell then stole the lead away shortly after a Safety Car for Liam Lawson.
On soft tyres, the Mercedes driver had an early pace advantage, but those on mediums began to gain the upper hand around half-distance.
That allowed Piastri to reclaim the lead, holding on to it despite a Safety Car restart with five laps remaining.
Piastri crossed the line two seconds ahead of Verstappen to claim his maiden F1 win, albeit in a Sprint rather than a grand prix.
“I was obviously happy to win the Sprint,” he said when asked by Speedcafe what he felt as he took the chequered flag.
“I have to say it’s a bit of a weird feeling because it’s not a race when it’s… it does feel a little bit strange. But no, very, very happy.
“It’s just been a really good day and I felt as a race, more than the result, I was really happy with how I managed things.
“Obviously a difficult race with tyres as well, so good learning for tomorrow and I guess happy that I executed well.
“The fact that it gives me a number one trophy in the end is a bonus.”
It’s the second time Piastri has stood on the Sprint podium, having been second to Verstappen at the Belgian GP too.
“I like Sprint Saturdays, apparently,” he joked.
“It’s been a really good day. Obviously started off well in the Sprint Shootout and, yeah, pretty crazy sprint this this evening.
“Also, I think was really exciting for everyone to watch as well, you know, with the soft guys at the start.
“I thought I was in a lot of trouble with how much pace they had, but they dropped off just as quickly.”
For a time, Russell commanded the race, pulling a 1.3-second advantage on Piastri following the withdrawal of the second Safety Car – called for Logan Sargeant beaching his Williams.
However, his initial pace soon vanished and those on mediums rose through the field.
That included Verstappen, who’d dropped to fifth from second but made short work of both Ferraris and Russell’s Mercedes as he recovered.
“That last Safety Car was pretty nice for me, I’ll be honest,” Piastri said of how his race unfolded.
“I knew that I had to try and get as much of a gap whilst Max was behind George as quickly as I could, which I managed to get out enough.
“And then the pace at the end was also pretty good.
“Once, I think was about 10 laps ago or eight laps ago, at that point [once he passed Russell], I thought it might be a tough ask at the end, so I’m thanking the Safety Car driver today”.
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