Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost believes that Toro Rosso will be more competitive than McLaren this season.
The two teams effectively swapped engine providers over the season. McLaren is now with Renault after breaking up with Honda following a disastrous three-year partnership.
The Japanese manufacturer has moved in the other direction, and this year Toro Rosso will be the Honda 'works team'. Depending on how it works out, Red Bull might move in the same direction for 2019.
Many thought that Toro Rosso was getting the raw end of the deal. But Tost firmly believes that his team's new deal with Honda will advance them up the grid.
"We are happy with the Honda engine which is doing a fantastic job," he told Sky Sports during pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
"I am convinced they will supply us with a very competitive package.
"I am sure that during the season we will catch up and by the end of the season we will have a very competitive car.
"Our target is to be in the front part of the midfield," he predicted.
Meanwhile McLaren is having a bumpy ride as it switches to Renault engines. A number of reliability glitches during testing have raised concerns about the design of the MCL33.
Tost wasn't about to take advantage of a rival's misfortunes. But he did make it clear that he felt McLaren had made a mistake in dumping Honda in favour of the 'safe' Renault power unit.
"I don't care about McLaren," he said. "I am convinced that by the end we will have a more competitive package than them."
But Toro Rosso's Twitter feed wasn't shy of having a sly dig at McLaren's test glitches. With their rivals stuck in the garage, the team posted a picture of the STR13 heading out on track with the caption: "All systems Woking, let’s do this."
Woking. Geddit? Of course we do!
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