The Australian missed out on pole position to Max Verstappen on Saturday in Imola by a slender 0.074s.

During the session, though, he was found to have impeded Kevin Magnussen at the Tamburello chicane, for which he was handed a three-place grid penalty.

That was a failing on the team’s part, a point acknowledged by Andrea Stella, rather than Piastri’s.

Aside from that incident, it was a strong performance from the Australian – though he stopped short of declaring it his best Saturday in F1.

“In terms of qualifying sessions in F1, I think, to be honest, it’s been a strong weekend the whole time,” he said when asked about his session by Speedcafe.

“I feel like it’s been a good qualifying session for me.

“I would say, [it’s] up there. Probably not the single best but certainly up there in the sessions I’ve had.”

Piastri this weekend has the full suite of upgrades team-mate Lando Norris had in Miami.

It’s seen both drivers consistently towards the top of the timesheets, including a McLaren one-two in final practice.

“From the start of P1 all the way through quali I think a couple of scruffy laps in the middle of qualifying but in Q3 it came together a bit more and I was happy with the last lap,” Piastri said.

“It’s been a really strong weekend for us so far.

“There’s been no points yet of course, they are tomorrow, but I think we’ve been pretty happy all weekend.”

Set to start fifth, Piastri is confident he has the race pace to record a good result.

“Our long runs yesterday looked good, but it’s very, very close,” he said, noting Ferrari and Red Bull Racing.

“I think that’s kind of been the story of the season and the last few races; everyone’s been so tight.

“We’ll see. Overtaking is very tough here, but I think we can be optimistic.”

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix begins at 15:00 local time on Sunday (23:00 AEST).