McLaren Chairman Ron Dennis believes McLaren-Honda will end the dominance of Mercedes AMG PETRONAS in Formula 1.
The last time McLaren won the Constructors’ Championship was in 1998 with David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen. Since then the team have failed to reach the top spot after losing out to Renault, Scuderia Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes.
“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.”
Mercedes has dominated the last two seasons after taking the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships. They are currently the favourites to win the 2016 season as they started the season how they ended 2015. Out of five races, the Brackley-outfit has won four beating their rivals to the top spot.
McLaren have struggled in their performance since the beginning of last year after they entered a partnership with Honda, they have not won a race since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix.
With changes to the 2017 regulations, Dennis believes this will level the playing field and offer McLaren a good chance next year.
“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,” added Dennis. “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.”
