Oscar Piastri explained he needed to defend for the entire Qatar Grand Prix sprint after he "killed" his front tyres early on in the one-third distance race. The Australian took a second sprint victory in a row at the Lusail International Circuit after Lando Norris handed him the win over the final 100m of the race, a move he did not anticipate. Having started third on the grid, the 23-year-old got the better of George Russell on the first lap, placing McLaren in position for maximum points. However, the Briton would apply near-constant pressure throughout, leaving Piastri to rely on Norris to provide DRS in a bid to fight the Mercedes driver off, which the pair ultimately succeeded in doing. The two-time grand prix winner underlined tyres issues as the reason for his relative lack of pace, which necessitated the support from in front. "It was about defence for the whole race, to be honest," he said when reflecting on the race. "Had a good start and a good Turn 1, obviously. "[I] just didn't quite have the pace - I killed the front [tyres] a little bit early on, and then I was struggling a bit for the rest of the sprint. "But some great teamwork. I think without that help it would have been a much more difficult sprint. Nice to have a McLaren one-two."
When asked about Norris' decision to move aside and forgo victory, Piastri told media including RacingNews365 that whilst it did not come as a complete shock to him, he did concede he did not think his team-mate would attempt the swap in such risky conditions. He was keen to point out that such selflessness underscores the "teamwork and lack of ego" at McLaren, as the Woking squad nears a first constructors' championship since 1998. Piastri gave up sprint victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix earlier in the month in aid of his team-mate F1 drivers' championship challenge, something he has now been paid back for. "I was aware it could happen," he stated. "I was a bit surprised with George [Russell] at half a second it did. "I was aware it was a possibility, so it wasn't completely unexpected, [but] maybe a little bit in the circumstances of the race... "It just shows off our teamwork and lack of ego within the team."
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