McLaren drops bold prediction on F1 favourite tag ahead of new season

Speaking to GPblog at the Bahrain International Circuit, the McLaren CEO expressed his delight with the car his team has developed, before stressing his belief that the Woking-based outfit is within the top-four bracket.

“I think we've produced a good car. I think we'll be in the big four. I don't think we're at the front of the big four. But it's going to be a long season with a lot of development. We're still learning, but I think we're in a good starting position,” he explained.

Brown, however, tempered expectations, noting that it’s hard to gauge how much pace the other top teams are currently showing.

“But I think the red guys [Ferrari] and the silver guys [Mercedes] are looking very strong, and I don't think we've seen everything yet from Red Bull, but I think we're definitely in the top four,” he concluded.

Conversations about who the outright favourites are have continued to linger, with several teams opting to throw the favourite tags to their competitors. Only more recently did Red Bull Racing’s team boss Laurent Mekies, admit his team is not the benchmark for the field heading into the new campaign.

Earlier, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff dialled back on his comments describing Red Bull Racing as the quickest team on the grid.

The 54-year-old, speaking to GPblog, admitted he believes the four front-running teams appear to be the favourites for the upcoming campaign.

The Austrian motorsports chief, however, again tempered expectations, stressing the unpredictability of the respective driving conditions that several teams have their cars set to.