The McLaren driver ended Free Practice 2 seventh fastest but suggests there’s more to come from him on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton topped the day’s second session from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, with Lando Norris only 0.055s off the pace in the other McLaren.
Piastri was 0.358s away from the benchmark time as he suggested conditions on Friday heavily punished small mistakes.
“I think we’ve had the pace in both sessions,” he reasoned.
“Looks like quite small mistakes are making a big difference, or small differences in tyre preparation and stuff like that.
“I’m expecting another tight session tomorrow in quali and probably a tight race as well.”
Rain had hit the circuit on Thursday, replaced with sunny conditions for both practice sessions.
However, the rain left the circuit green, while windy conditions also caught drivers out.
“I think a bit of a tricky day with the track conditions; was very hot and much lower grip than I think a lot of us expected, so took a but of dialling in for FP2,” Piastri explained.
“Still some things to work on in my driving but I think we’re getting there with the car.
“We’re in a pretty solid place but just looks really tight,” he added.
“The long run pace looked pretty good as well.
“All in all, a decent day – maybe not the best Friday of the year but definitely in the mix.
“If I tidy a few things up we’ll be well and truly in the mix.”
Final practice for the Spanish Grand Prix begins at 12:30 local time (20:30 AEST), ahead of the day’s all-important qualifying hour from 16:00 (midnight).
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