Oscar Piastri was left satisfied with how he and McLaren started the weekend in Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix.

Piastri was second fastest in Free Practice 2, just 0.06s slower than George Russell’s Mercedes.

That performance came as McLaren introduced a significant upgrade package for this weekend.

Opening practice was compromised by the weather, however a busier afternoon session helped fill in a lot of gaps for teams.

“Pretty solid day,” Piastri began.

“FP1 was a little bit tricky, but P2 looked good.

“One lap pace looked pretty good, I need to look at our long-run pace, but it looks look pretty solid.”

Mercedes showed well once again too, with Russell fastest and team-mate Lewis Hamilton third.

Max Verstappen was fourth fastest for Red Bull Racing in Free Practice 2, it made for three different cars in the top four, suggesting an especially competitive weekend at the front of the field, a point Piastri noted.

“Mercedes looked quick again, so I’m expecting it to be a pretty hard for weekend once again,” the 23-year-old observed.

The limited running in Free Practice 1 meant McLaren didn’t get the full picture it was hoping for form its new parts.

“It doesn’t feel massively different. It just should be a bit faster,” Piastri explained.

“All went smoothly, all went to plan.”

McLaren team-mate Lando Norris however implied McLaren was only the second fastest team, behind Mercedes.

“Mercedes are quite quick – it’s close,” he began.

“I don’t think there is a quickest, it just depends on different factors.

“We’ve been in good form since Miami, but we’ve not really brought any updates since Miami; this weekend’s our first time trying to make a bit more progress with the car.

“So optimistic, but I have no idea if it’s working or not or how it’s performing at the minute.

“But today was a reasonable day and we’re there or thereabouts,” he added.

“A little bit more to find overnight, hopefully and, we can challenge the Mercedes.”

An hour of practice remains, beginning at 19:30 AEST this evening.