Charles Leclerc described Ferrari as "nowhere" after witnessing McLaren score another one-two in the final practice session of the season ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
After Lando Norris spearheaded a one-two after Friday practice, it was team-mate Piastri who instead led the way following FP3 with the quickest lap of the weekend to date, a 1:23.433s, finishing two-tenths of a second ahead.
As for Ferrari, ideally needing to score a one-two in the grand prix to put pressure on McLaren in the fight for the constructors' championship, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were fifth and ninth on the timesheet at the end of the hour-long run at the Yas Marina Circuit.
The closest rivals to the McLaren duo were Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, albeit with both four-tenths of a second adrift of Piastri's pace.
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Result Free practice 3 - Abu Dhabi
Given the unrepresentative conditions compared to qualifying and the grand prix, with the cars circulating in the heat of the day and with track temperatures at 40 degrees Celsius, it was a slow start to the session.
In the first 15 minutes, only the Alpines and Aston Martins had ventured out on track, with the former team's duo of Jack Doohan and Pierre Gasly posting times.
Eventually, the other teams and drivers warmed to their task and took to the circuit. As the track ramped up and the lead changed hands, with 20 minutes remaining, Haas' Kevin Magnussen was the surprise leader.
The Dane, in his farewell grand prix, topped the timesheet with a 1:24.470s on Pirelli's soft tyres, albeit nine-tenths of a second off the pace set in FP2 by Norris.
Sainz and Verstappen were second and third respectively but on the medium compound rubber. There was a scare for the Ferrari driver midway through the session when wisps of smoke appeared from the back of the SF-24.
Any concerns, particularly after the issue involving team-mate Leclerc and the change of the ERS that will lead to a 10-place grid penalty, were soon dismissed when Sainz swiftly returned to the track after a visit to the pits.
It was not until the clock ticked inside the closing 20 minutes that the low-fuel, soft-tyre qualifying simulations were run, with Alex Albon in his Williams posting a 1:24.378s to lead the way. The Thai-British driver eventually finished 12th.
Mercedes' George Russell, who lamented the slow pace of his car early in the session, went three-tenths of a second quicker but was rapidly knocked off the top spot by Piastri by a staggering 0.642s. Norris could not match the Australian as the Briton concluded his run down by 0.193s.
Verstappen, hoping for another remarkable turnaround following Friday practice as occurred in Qatar last weekend, was four-tenths off, whilst Hamilton was seven-tenths adrift on what was an initial run, as was Leclerc.
When informed of Piastri's time over the radio, a downbeat Leclerc replied: "We are nowhere."
It was left to Sainz to take the fight to the McLaren, but despite purpling the middle sector, the Spaniard finished 0.438s down to slot in behind Verstappen.
Hamilton managed a second soft-tyre blast and managed to find extra pace to slide into third, 0.390s down.
Russell has to settle sixth, a quarter of a second behind Hamilton, followed by Nico Hulkenberg and Magnussen to give Haas hope of finishing sixth in the constructors' standings.
Behind Leclerc, Red Bull's Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10, but over four-tenths back on Verstappen.
Further down the pack, and up to speed, Doohan, on his race weekend debut, managed to finish just 0.026s behind Gasly, with the the pair 13th and 14th quickest.
Williams' Franco Colapinto brought up the field, with the Argentinian over 1.3.s adrift.
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