The fight between Lewis Hamilton and ex-team mate Fernando Alonso will be even more savage than last year, according to Red Bull’s Mark Webber.
Whereas some might have hoped that tempers between the two may have cooled since Alonso’s move to Renault, Webber believes the rivalry will be even more vicious.
‘It could actually get nastier in terms of the battle on the track because the gloves are off,’ he told the BBC website.
‘Fernando can take the fight to Lewis - there is a bit of friction there. It could be fascinating.’
While the Renault will be unlikely to regularly challenge the McLarens and Ferraris this season Alonso will enjoy disrupting a fight between Hamilton and world champion Kimi Raikkonen.
‘Fernando would love at the end of next year to have beaten both of them [McLaren and Hamilton] but he knows it's not possible in the first year,’ said Webber, who will be the BBC Sport website's F1 columnist this year.
‘He's not saying he doesn't care about it; he's just being realistic.
‘He's not stupid, Fernando, even though some things were a little wild last year. He's got his head screwed on.
‘I think every now and then Alonso will put the cat among the pigeons.
‘In the overall picture, he won't win the war, but some of the battles could get juicy.’