McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes Mercedes must be regarded as the Formula 1 title favourites on the evidence of the Barcelona shakedown test, but has his eye on Red Bull.
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli combined for 502 laps of Barcelona as Mercedes led the field with its new W17, although Lewis Hamilton nabbed the outright fastest time on the final evening of running.
Mercedes has long been regarded as the title favourites for the new rules, with Brown's McLaren slotting into the leading pack after a disrupted test in which Oscar Piastri lost out on some running due to a fuel system fault.
Whilst Brown believes that McLaren is within the leading gaggle of teams and Mercedes are favourites, he also name-checked Red Bull, which clocked up over 600 laps between it and Racing Bulls using the all-new Red Bull Powertrains-Ford engine.
"It looks like the big four, but it is hard to know yet in what order," Brown explained whilst opening the McLaren racing centre in Indianapolis.
"If you went to Vegas today, I think Mercedes looks like the favourite sitting here right now, but there is a long way to go. Williams didn't make it out [in Barcelona], Aston [Martin] only got out at the very end, so you have no idea where Williams stands.
"I think the grid will be more spread out, which is to be expected a new formula for a little bit. So last year in Abu Dhabi, I think a second covered the entire field. I would anticipate it being two or three seconds, which covers the entire field.
"But that's normal. We're going to have to learn how to race these cars a little bit differently because they run out of deployment, so I still think there's some work to be done with the FIA to refine the rules, to make sure that while there's strategy and how you deploy the battery and the energy that we're not running out of energy at the end of straights and getting into lift and coasting.
"I don't think that'll be visible to the fans, because we were three, four seconds off what was last year's pace [in Barcelona], but you can't see that.
"It kind of looks like the usual suspects, but it is hard to tell in what order. The Red Bull engine was very strong. I think everyone was pleasantly surprised. I'd rather them not be as competitive as, but I'm impressed with what they've done, because they came out, they did a lot of miles, and they seem to be very competitive."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes and Nick Golding, as they look back on last week's five-day F1 test in Barcelona. McLaren's upgrade strategy is discussed, as is Aston Martin grabbing much attention with its striking AMR26.
Rather watch the podcast? Then click here!
Most read
Join the conversation!