Piastri looked set for a low-key debut season with McLaren as his team missed its development targets for its 2023 car and started off the season on the back foot.
The MCL60's deficiencies only allowed the Australian to score five points in the first nine races, while experienced team-mate Lando Norris similarly failed to wring a string of results out of the relatively inefficient and hard-to-drive machine.
But McLaren's summertime B-spec, which was rolled out across the final races before the break, turned the tide for the team and also allowed Norris and Piastri to grab headlines.
Norris clinched two second-place finishes in Britain and Hungary that propelled the team to fifth in the standings, while Piastri too took his first-ever top-three finish in Formula 1, in the Belgian Grand Prix's Saturday sprint.
Looking back on his first half-season in the series, Piastri admitted that his Spa result "was a pretty distant dream" at the start of the year.
"I think before the season maybe we thought that that could be possible in the right circumstances, with maybe a few cars not finishing, Piastri said.
"Of course, once we got the season underway, it was a pretty distant dream that we'd be able to compete for the top three. And to now be here consistently for the last three weekends is pretty remarkable.
Source: Autosport