Off the back of a near perfect 2023 season, Max Verstappen and Red Bull also dominated the 2024 season's opening race in Bahrain with a heavily revised RB20.
Verstappen won last week's race from pole after comfortably building a 22-second gap to team-mate Sergio Perez, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz another two seconds further back.
While the spectre of another one-sided season looms large, Piastri feels that Red Bull's nearest rivals Ferrari, Mercedes and his McLaren team aren't as far away as it looks.
"I feel like there's some optimism and some hope," the Australian said. "It'll be interesting to see where we are this weekend.
"Looking at the strengths and weaknesses of our car and the strengths of the Red Bull, hopefully, we can be a bit closer here and at some other circuits, but it wasn't as bad as some races last year.
"The biggest thing for us was that two tenths would have put us P2 [in qualifying], and even looking at Leclerc, he had the quickest lap Q2 that would have put him on pole.
"So, I think the chasing pack is not too far behind."
Source: Autosport