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McLaren will win title after Mercedes - Dennis

Ron Dennis says McLaren will be the next team to win the championship after Mercedes, ahead of the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull.

McLaren has struggled since Honda returned as power unit partner at the start of the 2015 season, but progress this season saw the team score points in at the second round and reach Q3 for the first time at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Despite a best finish of fifth place with Honda power - compared to four wins for Red Bull and three for Ferrari in the same period - McLaren chairman Dennis is confident his team will be the one to eventually end the Mercedes dominance.

"I honestly believe that the next world champions after Mercedes will be McLaren," Dennis told BBC Sport. "We'll get to that goal before other people.

"It is challenging but I have a firm belief in the technical competence of our people and a firm belief in Honda."

And Dennis points to the new aerodynamic regulations set to be introduced next season as an opportunity to start challenging at the front of the field again.

"The 2017 regulations level the playing field and it is enough time for us to catch up with Honda, so I think we'll have a good chance next year.

"I think we can win races. I don't want to predict world championships but I do feel that dethroning Mercedes-Benz is going to be a challenge for everybody and I have reason to genuinely believe we'll get there before anybody else."

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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.