Oscar Piastri is unsure how competitive McLaren are in Las Vegas after completing little meaningful running in the second practice session.

McLaren were not competitive at Las Vegas last year. It brought revised front and rear wing flaps for this year’s race but their efforts to evaluate them on Thursday were hampered as the second session was red-flagged twice due to concerns over a manhole cover.

Piastri said the track conditions complicated matters further. “It’s just very difficult to know because obviously it was a bit wet at the start and the track was evolving a lot,” he said.

He arrived in Las Vegas following a poor run of results but was encouraged by his start to the weekend as he lapped within two tenths of a second of team mate Lando Norris in first practice.

“I think FP1 was pretty good,” Piastri told the official F1 channel. “Some things to work on, but overall I felt like it was a pretty good session. FP2, I mean I did two laps for the whole session, so it’s difficult to know exactly where we sit.”

While Piastri was one of many drivers who were unable to complete runs on soft tyres due to the red flags in second practice, Norris was able to complete a run and set the fastest time of the session.

“I think clearly the car’s got decent pace but not that many people got a great run on the soft so it’s a little bit difficult to know exactly where we sit,” said Piastri. “But still, plenty of positives I think and plenty of things to look through overnight.”

Team principal Andrea Stella admitted this is likely to prove one of McLaren’s more difficult weekends. “We know that the characteristics of the track and the conditions in which we are racing are not the best for us,” he said. “We know that there is still work to be done to adjust the setup of the car.”

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