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McLaren boss expects fans to be excited by 2017 car

McLaren's new executive director Zak Brown says that he's confident the team's fans will be excited by this year's new car design and livery when it's unveiled next month.

"We've just signed off on the car livery and I think the fans will be excited to find out what the car looks like, both technically and visually," Brown told the Autosport Show in Birmingham this week.

"The cars are going to be very fast, they look great and they are going to look meaner with these bigger and wider wings," he continued. "We've seen the aero reports, which are looking good, and the power reports are looking good," he added.

Brown: McLaren 'very bullish' about 2017 gains

Brown - who was appointed to the role after the departure of former CEO Ron Dennis in November last year - credited improved working relations with engine providers Honda for the progress being made.

Brown sais that he expects the new downforce and tyre regulations being introduced in 2017 could work to McLaren's advantage.

"I think any time you get a rules shake-up, that means there will be some sort of surprise, someone will get it more right than anticipated and someone might get it more wrong than anticipated," he said.

However McLaren won't know for sure how much ground they've made up on their rivals until next month's pre-season testing gets underway at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

"I'm looking forward to Spain," he said. "That doesn't necessarily tell you everything you need to know, as we all end up being on different agendas, but I think it's going to be excellent."

Brown said that there wasn't a firm date for the launch of the car, but indicated it would be just before testing starts on February 27.

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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.