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Oscar Piastri

Piastri hopes McLaren can build on Sepang practice gains

Archive photograph: Oscar Piastri · 2026-03-15Archive photo · 2026-03-15 · Liauzh · CC BY 4.0

Oscar Piastri hopes McLaren can keep improving at Sepang after both its drivers moved up the order between Friday’s practice sessions.

From the GPBeat newsroomPublished · · 1 min

Max Verstappen topped the first practice session at Sepang on Friday, while Charles Leclerc led the second. McLaren improved between the sessions: Oscar Piastri rose from 11th to sixth, and Lando Norris from 12th to third, finishing 0.137 seconds behind Leclerc in FP2.

Piastri said the four leading teams looked closely matched, although he thought McLaren might be slightly behind. He hopes the team can build on its progress from the opening session.

Piastri said an expectation of rain that never arrived affected tyre choices in FP2. He was unsure how McLaren’s longer runs compared with those of its rivals.

Sources 01
  1. SOURCEOscar Piastri hopeful McLaren 'takes its turn' in jumbled Sepang pecking orderRacingNews365 English · Source date as found: 2026-10-02
Source context

Source 1 is RacingNews365 English’s report of Friday’s practice results and Piastri’s comments at Sepang on 2 October 2026.