Mercedes sees Honda as “a big threat” in 2016 and is “assuming we are going to get beaten by Ferrari”, according to Andy Cowell.

Cowell is the managing director of Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, with its power unit having been the dominant engine so far in the V6 turbo era. However, while confident the Mercedes progress is not tailing off, Cowell says the expectation is for a very competitive season with Ferrari and Honda highlighting as the biggest dangers this year.

“If we look at what Ferrari has done over the last 12 months, it’s remarkable,” Cowell said. “Their improvements have been a huge credit to their reshuffle, their enthusiasm. Everybody here is going ‘I wonder how we’re going to do?’ Nobody here is assuming we are going to win, everybody here is assuming that we’re going to get beaten by Ferrari, and Honda are a big threat.

“Honda have come in quickly and they are learning in front of the public but they’re hugely determined and partnered with McLaren who are hugely determined. We know exactly how McLaren work in terms of a data-driven approach, so they are going to make some big, big gains.

“Renault’s determination as they’ve shown with becoming a lot more involved now in Formula One, instead of just being a power unit provider there has been a team restructuring. There are going to be some great stories to talk about.”

Force India’s Andy Green recently told F1i that Mercedes had delivered a new power unit which "looks a good step forward".

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

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