Oscar Piastri was encouraged by the opening day of running at the Hungarian Grand Prix despite banking less than 20 laps in dry conditions and damaging the floor of his car.
A mistake in Free Practice 2 saw the Australian in the garage as the team affected running repairs to the MCL60 after he ran wide at Turn 11.
As a result, he ended the session 19th with 18 laps to his name, while team-mate Lando Norris was second best, more than 1.4s quicker, having logged 30 tours of the Hungaroring.
“I went a little bit wide at Turn 11 and did enough damage that we had to change it [the floor],” Piastri explained.
“A very big effort from all the boys to get that floor changed and get me out for a few laps.
“I think without that, we looked pretty good.
“I was pretty happy with the first run, the long run at the end, even though it wasn’t that long for me, the pace looked promising.
“FP1 was good as well, so it’s not been a bad day – of course, I would have preferred a few more laps, but I think we’re in a reasonable place.”
Piastri this weekend has the upgraded front wing Norris enjoyed at the British Grand Prix.
It’s a component that completes the ‘b-spec’ package for the Australian, the bulk having arrived in Silverstone.
“Pretty benign, I would say,” he said of what the new wing feels like behind the wheel.
“Compared to the floor and the sidepods and stuff like that in Silverstone, it’s a much smaller chance.
“But as long as it makes the car faster, that’s all I care about. So no nasty surprises; it was pretty good.”
An upshot of Piastri’s limited running in Free Practice 2 is he saved a set of tyres.
Drivers this weekend have just 11 sets at their disposal, down from 13 at most other events, as the sport trials a revised approach to tyre selection in qualifying.
“It’s tricky,” Piastri observed.
“You’re trying to use as little amount of tyres as possible whilst learning as much as you can.
“It would have been quite a limited day [of] running if it was fully dry – I think we probably saw more laps than we would have with the rain.
“It’s never that fun when you have one or two sets of tyres for a whole Friday, but it’s a new challenge.”
An hour of practice remains ahead of qualifying for Sunday’s race, with Piastri optimistic about his potential.
“Today’s been very encouraging and probably a bit more encouraging than we first thought,” said the 22-year-old.
“Obviously, the format’s different for qualifying; a few more curveballs for everybody.
“Generally, we’ve been quite good at getting things right when we’re in tricky situations and I think there could be some tricky situations in qualifying.
“So we’ll make sure we’re on our toes, but yeah, I think we can try and aim for a good result.”
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