Piastri was second fastest to Lando Norris in Free Practice 2, having also trailed his McLaren teammate in the opening hour.
The Australian was a tenth behind the championship leader on both occasions as McLaren emerged as the class of the field in the day’s second session, Norris 0.163s clear.
The pair had been split by 0.095s in opening practice, a session headed by Pierre Gasly.
“It was a decent day,” Piastri said.
“The pace has been good and felt reasonably comfortable.
“There’s been a few corners that I need to try and do a bit of a better job at tomorrow.
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“All in all, it’s felt like a good day.
“It’s not been perfect, but still feeling good.”
Piastri logged 45 laps, one more than Norris, on a day that saw McLaren introduce a new diffuser and changes to the rear corner of the MCL39.
Both are designed to “improve overall flow conditioning” with the intent of adding more rear downforce.
“It’s been a positive first day here in Jeddah, where we were able to complete a number of important test items and establish a reasonable performance baseline,” said McLaren team boss, Andrea Stella.
“We completed a good number of laps, enabling the drivers to build confidence, which is particularly important at this high-speed, but technically challenging circuit.
“Having said this, the field seems very tightly packed, and we will need to extract the maximum potential from the car for Qualifying.
“We have plenty of data to analyse this evening and look forward to getting back on track tomorrow.”
Max Verstappen proved McLaren’s nearest competitor in Free Practice 2, the Red Bull driver still nearly three-tenths shy of Norris’ best.
Piastri heads into Saturday fresh from pole position in Bahrain, his second of the year and a race he went on to win.
“There’s still some things to improve for tomorrow, a bit more pace to find,” he reiterated.
“But so far everything’s been going reasonably well, so feeling confident for tomorrow.”
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