Oscar Piastri concedes his McLaren team are "a tiny step behind" their rivals at the Bahrain Grand Prix but is confident they're improving swiftly enough to ensure a challenge for pole in qualifying at Sepang.
The Australian, who's seeking an upturn at the Malaysian track which is hosting the race due to the Middle East conflict, finished only 11th in first practice on Friday but improved to sixth-fastest second time around, with teammate Lando Norris the third quickest.
The improvement persuaded Piastri that McLaren will be in the shake-up for what he's convinced will be a closely-fought qualifying on Saturday after Max Verstappen led the way in FP1 with a 1min 37.520sec circuit and Ferarri's Charles Leclerc was quickest in the second on 1:37.528.
