Brown predicts big challenge to McLaren in four-way F1 title fight

The Woking outfit led by Brown, were crowned F1 constructors' champions and GRANDPRIX247 Team of the Year last season for the first time in 26 years and after coming back from fourth overall in 2023 and fifth in 2022. In 2017 they were ninth.

The longest of campaigns with 24 races also saw seven different drivers, from four teams, each win at least twice. Brown told the Autosport Business Exchange conference on Wednesday: "I think the field is going to be even tighter than last season.

"I see the top four teams being just as tight as they were at the end of the year... when you see the turnaround we had, there's no reason why other teams can't have that type of turnaround.

"I think we're going to start for an epic season... I think we're going to have an unbelievable three, four-way driver championship. And four teams fighting for the constructors' (championship). I think that's possible," reckoned Brown.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen will be chasing his fifth successive F1 world championship next year after a season that was far from his dominant best.

McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will be among the leading contenders to dethrone him, along with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at Ferrari.

Hamilton's move from Mercedes to Maranello is a key storyline for the season with the Briton chasing an eighth title at the age of 40.

Norris finished last season as runner-up, 63 points behind Verstappen, but has said he is now ready to mount a proper challenge.

Ferrari finished only 14 points behind McLaren with Red Bull a distant third and Mercedes fourth.

Brown also revealed that team principal Andrea Stella, a key architect of McLaren's success, had turned down the role when it was first offered to him in 2020 because the Italian did not feel ready. Stella, who had joined McLaren from Ferrari in 2015, finally accepted in 2022.