McLaren are confident they will be in a position to challenge on a regular basis.
McLaren believe they will make the biggest step forward of all teams in Formula 1 this season. They have not won a race since the end of 2012 but are hopeful of a strong season after swapping their under-performing Honda engines for Renault.
McLaren executive director Zak Brown said: "We should be the team that has the biggest difference in grid position from last year to this year. Everyone, including ourselves, is eager to see what that looks like."
Brown said McLaren's aim for 2018 was "being competitive - that is, racing at the front, qualifying at the front, getting on the podium".
After three years of being Honda's sole partner but suffering from the engine's lack of performance, McLaren dropped the Japanese company and are now one of three teams with Renault engines.
But Brown said he was not nervous about being compared with Red Bull, who won three races last year, and the French manufacturer's improving factory team.
"If we're 0.9 seconds off Red Bull, that won't look good, I agree," Brown said. "We don't want to hide. It's showtime.
"The beautiful thing about motor racing is hundreds of millions of people get to see how you do. That's part of the adrenaline.
"We are looking forward to that. This team has won the second most amount of championships and they welcome and are excited about the pressure of having the spotlight on us. We will only want to hide if we are 0.9 seconds off Red Bull."
McLaren-Honda won four consecutive drivers' and constructors championships from 1988-91. Their renewed partnership was not so successful.
Engineering director Matt Morris said he was excited about the new season and testing themselves against Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. And chief technical officer (aerodynamics) Peter Prodromou, who joined McLaren from Red Bull in late 2014, said: "It has been difficult for us the last three years not having someone to measure yourself up against.
"It is a very positive thing that we have two first-class teams to measure ourselves against and that is a very strong motivating factor for everyone in the workforce."
Prodromou acknowledged that Red Bull had a bigger budget than McLaren but said he hoped they could make up in efficiency what they lacked in resources.
Renault was regarded as the third best engine in F1 last year behind those of world champions Mercedes and their main rivals Ferrari.
"I know there is a big debate about what is the first, second and third best engine. I think in reality they're all pretty close."
The Formula One season gets under way in Australia on March 25...