Daniel Ricciardo is confident he and Red Bull will be challenging Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton for the title this year.
After three seasons of Mercedes dominance, in which Red Bull has won just five races, Ricciardo is confident his team will make the most of this year's regulation changes to ensure they are fighting at the front.
"I think we can challenge, yes," he told the official Formula One website. "If we make the same improvements we did last year then he won't have anything easy, believe me.
"2016 was really encouraging for the whole team. We found ourselves fighting again for wins, podiums and pole positions. It was a great step closer to where we want to return to. And from what I hear about the new car, I would definitely risk a bet in our favour."
There is a fear that the new regulations could limit overtaking opportunities as car performance becomes more dependent on aerodynamics and braking distances decrease. But Ricciardo is hopeful wheel-to-wheel racing will still be possible and is confident a relaxation of F1's penalty system will encourage drivers to attempt bolder moves.
"Hopefully it [overtaking] gets better and better in the course of the season because from Melbourne on we can race each other hard again without having penalties looming over our heads all the time. I'll try my best to keep it exciting for the fans!"
After testing 2017's wider tyres last year, Ricciardo said he is looking forward to getting the "real 2017 feel" during testing at the end of February.
"It was hard to really evaluate. Sure, I felt more grip from the bigger tyres, but the car was a kind of random/hybrid set-up so wouldn't have given the real 2017 feel. But the tyres seemed fun, so I expect good things when we get on track in Barcelona. From what we've seen in the simulator it will be a real challenge. But Barcelona will show the real thing.