Piastri was sixth fastest in Free Practice 1 for the Mexico City Grand Prix, the only meaningful session held thus far.

The Australian’s best, a 1:18.958s, was almost a second away from George Russell at the top of the timesheets and left him sixth fastest after the opening hour.

During that session, he complained about the handling of the car over the radio, with his particular gripe the way his car rode the kerbs.

The changes made for Free Practice 2 improved things, though tyre testing prevented him from progressing that effort further.

“I think we seem to be in good shape,” he ventured.

“We made some good improvements from P1 because it was a bit of a handful then, so I feel like we’re in better shape.

“Still some pace to find, I would say, especially to Ferrari, but I think we’re in the mix.”

Piastri was second fastest in Free Practice 2, though that in itself should be taken with a grain of salt given teams had no control over their programs.

They were also unable to adjust the set-up in the session as they performed testing duties for Pirelli.

Nonetheless, that Piastri was within two-tenths of Carlos Sainz, who topped the session, and more comfortable in the car was a strong sign of progress.

“I was just lacking confidence with the car really a little bit similar to last week,” Piastri said of his Free Practice 1 woes.

“But I think we found some good steps forward for P2, which is encouraging.

“It’s always nice when you can end the day on a good note and, hopefully, we’ve learned a few things.”