McLaren upbeat on chances for 2007

That is the view of their F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh, who reckons the team should be able to fight back following a disappointing 2006 season.

"McLaren has the expectation of winning each and every year," said Whitmarsh, whose team failed to win a race last year, their first time in a decade.

"Inevitably people can look at our performance last season and be able to criticise us and frankly, we didn't do a good enough job. My feeling, having been at this point of the season on many occasions before, is highly optimistic for 2007.

"We are devoid of the tyre competition that we have had in recent years; however we are very happy with our relationship with Bridgestone and their technical approach.

"We have been working hard on the engineering package and believe we have made good progress to improve our performance."

The team also have high hopes on their driver line-up, with world champion Fernando Alonso joined by GP2 champion Lewis Hamilton.

Whitmarsh reckons the pair will complete the most exciting line-up on the grid.

"We have what we believe to be the most exciting driver line-up in Formula One for many years," added Whitmarsh. "Fernando is obviously a very proven product and an extraordinary double world champion.

"He is still a very young and ambitious driver who wants to win many world championships with McLaren. His arrival in the team has been highly motivational.

"Alongside Fernando we have the excitement of the debut year for Lewis. We have of course worked with Lewis for a decade so he is very well known to the team. His level of preparation and commitment is unprecedented.

"He has not only excelled, but exceeded our expectations with all the challenges that we have set him to reach this point.

"We must be a little cautious and control our enthusiasm because Formula One is a very challenging environment, but in time we have little doubt that Lewis will be a winning driver in the sport."