Oscar Piastri has pinpointed not getting the most out of his soft-tyre lap in practice after facing a major disadvantage in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix practice.
Unlike title rivals Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, Piastri was forced to miss FP1 at Yas Marina to fulfil the requirement to hand his car over for at least two sessions, with the Australian previously only doing so in Italy.
Pato O'Ward deputised for Piastri before he returned to the cockpit for FP2, but he only placed 11th after not maximising his initial lap on the soft tyres - but the third-placed contender was still happy with his running nonetheless.
"I mean, I think I got on pretty well on the medium, but just on the soft, I didn't get the most out of the grip on the first timed lap," Piastri explained.
"So I was finding my feet, and clearly there were some things to try and improve on for [Saturday], but after just one session, it was not too bad.
"It is more just little details [I need to find], the car feels like it is in a pretty decent place, but again, I just didn't get the grip out of it on the first soft lap, so there are some small tweaks.
"It didn't feel perfect out there, but it was nothing major, and the car was quick.
"I just need to get some more laps under my belt and find my feet a bit more, that is all, so a few more laps [on Saturday], a few more sets of tyres, and hopefully, we'll be there."
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