Verstappen, who has won 13 of 16 grands prix so far including 10 in a row, replied: "Yeah, unbelievable guys.
The last to take the title on a Saturday was Brazilian triple champion Nelson Piquet in the 1980s.
"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," said Piastri, who finished 1.871 seconds ahead.
While Piastri led away into the first corner on the medium tyres, with Russell using his softs to slot into second, Verstappen on mediums dropped initially to fifth and Perez to 11th.
Persons:
Perez, Piastri, Verstappen, Norris, Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Sergio Perez, Alpine's Esteban Ocon, Haas's Nico Hulkenberg, Bull, McLaren's Oscar Piastri, Christian Horner, Max, It's, Horner, German Sebastian Vettel, Nelson Piquet, NORRIS, Lando Norris, Mercedes, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, Williams, Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, Russell, AlphaTauri's Liam Lawson, Logan Sargeant, Alan Baldwin, Andrew Cawthorne, Ed Osmond, Toby Davis
Organizations:
McLaren, McLaren DOHA, Red, Qatar, Prix, Team, Sprint, Aston, Thomson
Locations:
Dutch, German, Brazilian, Lusail