Williams F1 junior Alex Lynn: I can win on debut in GP2

The GP3 champion, who has joined the Williams Formula 1 team as a development driver this year, has showed encouraging pace in winter testing. Lynn ended the recent three days of running in Bahrain sixth fastest, just 0.252s off the pace.

Driving for the DAMS team, which has run three of the past four GP2 champions - including last year's winner Jolyon Palmer - he is among the leading contenders to emerge as McLaren junior Stoffel Vandoorne's main rival for the title.

"I believe that I can win the first race," Lynn told AUTOSPORT.

"In testing, we were strong but then there were five other guys within a couple of tenths of first place. It's all going to be about who does it on the night in qualifying and then performs in the race.

"If I get into the race on the first couple of rows, I'm confident I can win the race. I know the car is going to be fast, as the DAMS car always is in qualifying, so I should be close to pole position.

"The one thing we can draw from testing is that it's going to be extremely close.

"Having seven or eight guys who are quick enough to win given good weekends is going to be tough. The positive thing is that I feel like I am in that fight."

Lynn claims to have adapted well to the Pirelli tyres, which are notoriously difficult for rookies to master, over race distances in testing.

But he believes that qualifying will be the key to making good on his hopes of fighting for victory.

"You can be the quickest guy on a race run all day long, but unless you stick it up front in qualifying and have a clean start, you are compromised," he said.

"The most damage is done to the tyres on high fuel and if you are battling a lot in the first couple of laps, you are shredding the tyres. If you qualify up front, you extend tyre life massively."