McLaren CEO Dennis said in a recent interview that the Woking-based outfit would be the first team to beat Mercedes to a World Championship.

Reacting to the Briton's bold prediction, Alonso and Button said it's difficult to make any predictions about future form – although the Spaniard did not rule out the possibility.

“It's difficult with next year's regulations how things may change, how things may get mixed in terms of competitiveness,” said Alonso.

“I see this project going in the right direction. Last year we had a lot of difficulties, we were underperforming, we had to just hope last year that things will become better.

"But now I think it's something more than hope.

“We start seeing the results and we start touching the results and we feel more competitive, and everything that's in the background and everything that is in Sakura and in McLaren in Woking makes a lot of sense.

"Everything is starting to be up to speed. Now let's say that we are more confident than one year ago here, in terms of this project, and how we will stop Mercedes domination.

"But if we are the first to do so? I don't know yet."

The two-time champion added: “But it's quite possible, because Red Bull is a top team, but not having a big manufacturer of the engine behind you is tough in this F1 as it is today.

"And Ferrari will be always competitive, but always missing maybe the last bit.”

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Button, meanwhile, was more cautious, saying merely that he hopes that the field continues to become more condensed in 2017.

“I don't know the facts or details of where we will be next year or where every other team will be next year," he said. "So I cannot really comment on that.

"All I know is that it will hopefully be a much more competitive season next year, people will be closer to Mercedes, making the racing better, keeping our fans and attracting new fans to the sport.

“Looking at Barcelona, having two teams fighting for the win, not just two cars, in the same colour scheme, attracts a lot of people.

"There is a lot of excitement, a lot of buzz, so we have to make sure that that happens next season.”