Oscar Piastri was left hopeful after McLaren showed a significant upturn in performance during FP2 at the Sepang International Circuit on Friday. The Australian finished sixth, 0.371s adrift of pacesetter Charles Leclerc, after a difficult FP1 where he was only 11th and over 1.7s off Max Verstappen's benchmark.
The first session was a struggle for McLaren. Piastri and teammate Lando Norris could not find grip, with Norris down in 12th. The team also used the session to compare different rear-wing configurations, which may have disrupted their rhythm.
But fortunes changed in FP2. Norris surged to third, while Piastri followed in sixth. “We definitely looked better in FP2 than FP1. FP1 we were struggling a lot. So things seemed a bit more positive then,” Piastri told Sky Sports F1.
The second session was unusual as teams altered their programmes expecting rain, which never arrived. “It was a bit of an interesting session because everyone was expecting rain, and then we didn’t get it. So I think the tyres choices and things like that were a little bit different to normal,” he added.
Piastri believes McLaren is now closer to the front. “I think it looks pretty close amongst the top four teams. Red Bull have looked very strong through the day, Mercedes as well looked strong at points, and obviously Ferrari were pretty good then. So everyone’s kind of had their turn being reasonably competitive. I think we’re maybe a tiny step behind. But we made a lot of progress from FP1,” he explained.
FP2 results saw Leclerc lead Isack Hadjar by 0.099s, with Norris just 0.038s further back. Verstappen was fourth without a soft-tyre qualifying simulation, while Lewis Hamilton split the Red Bull driver and Piastri in fifth. Mercedes showed potential but both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli made mistakes on their qualifying runs.
McLaren's rear-wing comparison was not a concern for Piastri. “It wasn’t a concern. It’s more that after Baku where we don’t have very many of them. So it was all fine,” he said. The team will have one final practice session on Saturday to continue closing the gap before qualifying.
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