Whitmarsh says no single team appears set to dominate in Australia

In contrast to Red Bull's supremacy during the 2011 championship, pre-season testing at Jerez and Barcelona failed to produce a clear favourite as several drivers and teams took spells at the top of the timesheets.

Whitmarsh said long-run data and driver feedback gave his team the sense it will be competitive at Melbourne, but insisted that neither McLaren nor any of its rivals look set to dominate 2012's opening round.

"The bad news is we don't look dominant; The good news is that no-one else [does] either," Whitmarsh said during a Vodafone phone-in on Monday.

"Our sense it that we are competitive. The car seems quite reliable, the drivers like it and they seem to be quite buoyant.

"We always say it at this at this time of year, but fuel loads, tyre programmes and test programmes interfere with the ability of the teams to judge performance.

"Race simulations and longer runs give a better indication though of where teams are at than headline lap times, and based upon that we feel that we are competitive."

Asked whether he felt McLaren would be in a position to fight for the championship, Whitmarsh said: "I wish I could say yes.

"It may be that people are sandbagging but ourselves and Red Bull didn't do any proper qualifying simulations. Some others may have run lighter fuel than us.

"The winter has been better than last year, and we have two hungry, fast and great racing drivers [and that] should mean that we can win races this year.

"If we win enough of them then we can win championships."

Asked about Hamilton's mindset following his well-documented travails in 2011, Whitmarsh added: "He has exceptionally high standards and he won three races last year but that's not what he expects of himself.

"When you have a season that falls below you high expectations I think you would, as a professional athlete, reconsider every aspect of your life and how you do that better.

"I think you can see around testing and how he has conducted himself in the media suggests that he's definitely focused on beating one, his team mate and two, everyone else."