Oscar Piastri raises Max Verstappen alarm with 'threat' warning

Oscar Piastri has highlighted that Max Verstappen will pose a "threat" to McLaren at the Austrian Grand Prix, as he seeks a sixth victory at the Red Bull Ring.

The Australian pointed out how "close" the Red Bull driver was to the championship-leading MCL39s during the opening two practice sessions in Spielberg.

In fact, the four-time F1 drivers' champion was quicker than Piastri in FP1, going second quickest behind George Russell, who topped the session.

Lando Norris, having sat out the opening hour of the weekend for debutant Alex Dunne, was fastest during the final Friday session, with Piastri one-and-a-half tenths of a second behind. Verstappen was third, another tenth and a half back.

Despite the Woking squad's strong showing in the Styrian Alps, Piastri was wary of what the 27-year-old could do.

He currently leads the drivers' championship by 22 points over his team-mate, with Verstappen a further 21 points adrift.

"[We] looked pretty good," the seven-time grand prix winner said after FP2. "Max is still close, so I think he'll definitely be a threat this weekend.

"But the car is feeling good. I think the pace is quite good. So, positive first step."

McLaren introduced updates to the MCL39 over the previous round, at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. However, Piastri explained that many of those parts are not upgrades in the traditional sense of the word.

It included a new suspension geometry and front wing, but when asked about the specification he is running this weekend, he stated there was not much difference to his car from before the trip to Montreal - or the other McLaren.

"There's some other bits and pieces," Piastri added. "I'm not using the bits that came in in Canada, because they're not an upgrade - they're just different.

"So all the parts that we think will make the car faster are on both cars."