P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Piastri “thanking Safety Car drivers” for Qatar F1 sprint win
The McLaren driver, Daniel Ricciardo, won his first race from pole position in a thrilling sprint race, although he had to fight his way back after initially losing out to George Russell. Ricciardo lost the lead to Russell, who chose softer tires, but was able to regain it when Russell’s tires started to deteriorate. The two mid-race Safety Car periods played in Ricciardo’s favor, as they prevented Russell from building a larger gap and gave Max Verstappen less time to mount a late attack. Ricciardo described the race as stressful but was happy with the team’s performance in managing the tires and dealing with the challenges of different compounds. He also admitted that the final Safety Car came as a relief once he knew Verstappen was behind him.
Source: Crash
