Brown eager to see Alonso and Hamilton duke it out once again

Zak Brown believes McLaren's anticipated resurgence this season will inevitably lead to a renewed rivalry between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

The two men were pitted against each other at McLaren back in 2007, but fierce competition between the two-time world champion and his rookie team mate took its toll on the pair's working relationship.

Ultimately, Alonso left McLaren after just one year and has yet to challenge once again for a championship while Hamilton has secured four titles since.

"What you had there was two of the world’s greatest young drivers who desperately wanted to beat each other and it became unhealthy," Brown told Express Sport.

"We’ve seen that before with Senna and Prost or Piquet and Mansell.

• Brown sees 'a leap to the front' for McLaren in Australia

"I think when you put two young lions in a cage together, you’re going to have some fireworks.

"Sometimes you can manage through those. Mercedes managed through those. Mercedes managed through the Lewis and Nico tension quite well - although it was pretty intense.

"Senna and Prost ended up taking each other off before Prost left the team. Lewis and Fernando became unmanageable. They were two young drivers who were still out to prove themselves."

As McLaren targets a return to the front of the field, Brown would like nothing more than to see the two men duke it out once again.

"I can’t wait to see it," he says.

"I’m eager for the new season to see who’s where. I can’t wait to see Fernando and Stoffel mixing it up with each other, mixing it up with Lewis and Fernando being in a race-car that is capable of being a good race-car."

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