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Friday running at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia brought mixed fortunes for McLaren, with Oscar Piastri conceding the team found themselves a "tiny step behind" the front-running rivals. The opening practice session proved to be a difficult affair for the Woking-based outfit, leaving Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris down in 11th and 12th positions respectively on the timesheets.
Thankfully, the afternoon painted a brighter picture. Lando Norris climbed to P3 in the second session, while Oscar Piastri posted the sixth-fastest time of the hour. Reflecting on the drastic shift between sessions, Oscar Piastri pointed out how the looming threat of rain altered the running.
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.
"We definitely looked better in FP2 than FP1," Oscar Piastri explained. "FP1 we were struggling a lot, to be honest. Things seemed a bit more positive [in FP2]. Obviously it was a bit of an interesting session because everyone was expecting rain and then we didn't get it, so I think the tyre choices and things like that were a little bit different to normal, but we seemed reasonable."
Behind the scenes, the machinery itself threw a curveball to the engineers. McLaren's Senior Racing Director Randy Singh detailed precisely what caught the squad off guard when the cars first hit the asphalt.
"The track's a lot lower grip than we expected coming here, a lot rougher as well, so that caught us a little bit by surprise," Randy Singh stated. He added that the team struggled to find the right operating window during the morning, before a concerted effort back at the track and at the factory turned the machine around for FP2.
Looking ahead to the battle for grid position, the 25-year-old Australian anticipates a tight scrap amongst the front-runners. Having watched the timing screens throughout the day, Oscar Piastri identified Red Bull as very strong, noting that Mercedes showed pace at various points and Ferrari looked competitive as well.
"So everyone's kind of had their turn being reasonably competitive," Oscar Piastri said. "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."
When pressed on whether the papaya squad could genuinely challenge for pole position on Saturday, Randy Singh kept expectations grounded. The focus remains squarely on extracting performance from the existing package, with plenty of homework still remaining.
