Oscar Piastri has predicted a "tight battle" in Saturday's qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix despite McLaren topping both practice sessions in Barcelona. 

Piastri ended Friday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on top after setting the pace during second practice as McLaren impressed despite a clampdown on flexi front wings.

After his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris topped the opening session, world championship leader Piastri improved the weekend's benchmark time by just over a second. 

The Australian was 0.286 seconds quicker than the Mercedes of George Russell, while Max Verstappen and Norris finished third and fourth, a further 0.024secs behind. 

Charles Leclerc was exactly half a second off the leading time in fifth as Ferrari struggled to balance their car, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton experiencing even more difficulty. 

The seven-time world champion described his car as "undriveable" as he finished in 11th, while his replacement at Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli, took sixth place. 

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, Alpine's Pierre Gasly, and Racing Bulls duo Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson completed the top 10.

A positive day on track in Barcelona #McLaren | #M7AReborn | #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/xWqfibOrzW

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 30, 2025

Piastri leads the championship by three points ahead of team-mate Norris, who refused to rule out Red Bull's Verstappen from challenging for the drivers' title this season. 

And Piastri backed up the Briton's claims, while also suggesting that McLaren's competition looked quick around the track on Friday. 

"It's been a bit of an up and down day, obviously ending on an up, which is good. But our competitors look quick," Piastri conceded. 

"I think Verstappen has been quick all day, Ferrari have been there, Mercedes popped up at the end, so it's going to be a tight battle tomorrow.

"There are definitely still some things to try and work on."

Asked if the closeness of rival teams was a concern, he added: "Not necessarily. I think we definitely expected Red Bull to be quick, so that's not a big surprise.

"But just trying to make the car a bit faster really, that’s all.

"We tried a few things today – some have been good, some have not been so good. We're learning, so I think it’s been a good day."