Oscar Piastri is hopeful McLaren can continue to make gains in Sepang. Image: XPB Images
The Australian endured a difficult opening session as McLaren struggled for pace, with Piastri finishing 11th and teammate Lando Norris 12th.
Both drivers were more than 1.7 seconds away from Max Verstappen’s FP1 benchmark as the team also used the session to compare different rear-wing configurations.
McLaren’s position improved considerably later in the day, with Norris climbing to third in FP2 while Piastri finished sixth, 0.371s away from Charles Leclerc’s session-topping Ferrari.
Piastri said the difference between the two sessions had been noticeable after an opening hour in which the team found itself outside the top 10.
“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.
Friday’s second session was complicated by the expectation of rain at Sepang, which prompted teams to alter their usual programs before the forecast weather ultimately failed to arrive.
“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,” Piastri said.
“But we seemed reasonable. I don’t know what the long run pace was like really, but no, interesting first day.”
Piastri’s best FP2 lap left him just over two tenths behind Norris, while McLaren was much closer to the front than it had been earlier in the day.
Leclerc led Isack Hadjar by 0.099s, with Norris another 0.038s back in third.
Verstappen finished fourth despite not completing a qualifying simulation on soft tyres, while Lewis Hamilton split the Red Bull driver and Piastri in fifth.
The spread across the leading teams left Piastri expecting a close fight when qualifying arrives, although he suggested McLaren still has some ground to find.
“I think it looks pretty close amongst the top four teams,” he said.
“I think Red Bull have looked very strong through the day. I think 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.
“So hopefully we can keep that trend going and we’ll see where we end up.”
Mercedes’ final FP2 positions offered an incomplete picture after both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli made mistakes during their respective soft-tyre qualifying runs, while Verstappen’s fourth-place time came on the medium compound.
Piastri was also asked about McLaren’s rear-wing comparison work after the team ran different specifications during the day.
“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.
McLaren will have one final practice session on Saturday to continue closing the gap before qualifying at Sepang.
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