The Australian chased down Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in the closing stages of the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.

He ultimately ran out of laps to attack the Mercedes duo but was classified second after Russell’s car was found underweight post-race.

It was a performance that highlighted well the progress Piastri has made during his time in Formula 1.

The 23-year-old won his first grand prix in Hungary after commanding the race, and proved the lead McLaren driver in Belgium too.

Prior to that, he was on par with team-mate Lando Norris at the British Grand Prix before a poor strategy call from the team cost him dearly, but even then he was rapid in the final laps.

“The last few weeks have been very strong from my side,” Piastri observed.

“Honestly, the whole season’s been pretty good.

“A couple of weekends in the middle of the year were a bit tricky; Japan and China mainly were pretty tough and obviously Barcelona.

“I feel like all the other races have been quite strong, just we’ve had a lot of things that haven’t been going our way in some ways, whether it’s interesting track limit penalties or crashes or mistakes, there’s always kind of been just things.”

A communication error from the pit wall at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix saw him cop a five-place grid penalty, and with it a shot at victory.

In Monaco, he was unable to deliver his best when needed, which arguably cost him pole.

He was penalised for track limits during qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix, a decision that has served to fuel his fire somewhat since.

A British Grand Prix held in mixed conditions left McLaren wanting strategically as it gave away multiple opportunities to win the race with both Piastri and Norris.

Even in Hungary, where Piastri qualified second fastest and seized the lead at the opening corner, team orders overshadowed his win as Norris proved reluctant to hand back the track position he’d been given.

While Hungary was the point where it all came together in the final classification, there have been clear signs of progress leading up to that point.

“The last few weekends have been able to tidy it up,” Piastri noted.

“I’ve taken a step forward from last year, definitely and think in these tricky kind of races like [Belgium], last year I was struggling.

“I’ve made good progress and obviously the car is very quick as well, so I feel like I’m gaining some nice momentum, which is good.

“But I know how quickly it can turn around and go the other way as well, so [I’m] just keep trying to build on it, but feel like I’m in a strong place.”

Piastri sits fourth in the drivers’ championship on 167 points, 32 back from Norris and 110 off Max Verstappen at the top of the standings.

F1 is now on its summer break, returning with the Dutch Grand Prix (August 23-25).