McLaren explains track conditions caught them by surprise as Oscar Piastri assesses their competitive position.

McLaren senior racing director Randy Singh revealed the track conditions at Sepang International Circuit caught the team by surprise, with much lower grip levels and a rougher surface than expected. The papaya squad struggled significantly in first practice before making progress in the second session, with Lando Norris climbing to third and Oscar Piastri finishing sixth.

Piastri acknowledged McLaren looked much better in the afternoon after a difficult opening session where both drivers finished outside the top 10. He described the team as making substantial progress from first practice, though admitted uncertainty about their long-run race pace compared to competitors.

The Australian driver assessed the competitive order as very close among the top four teams, with Red Bull appearing strongest throughout the day. Piastri suggested Mercedes and Ferrari also showed strong pace at different points, while McLaren appeared maybe a small step behind the leading group despite their afternoon improvement.

Singh confirmed the team focused on setup work between sessions to get the car into a better operating window after the challenging start. He acknowledged the difficulty of predicting qualifying competitiveness at this stage, with McLaren still having significant potential to unlock before Saturday's pole position battle.