Jenson Button believes McLaren can be the fourth best team in Singapore, behind Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.
The Briton predicts the Woking team will be battling Force India for seventh and eighth in the race, should those ahead fail to encounter any problems.
"You'd say it's a Red Bull/Mercedes track, then Ferrari is behind," Button said on Thursday. "And then behind Ferrari, I think it's all to play for."
When asked where he expects McLaren to finish, Button replied: "I think seventh is the best place we can finish here, and if all six cars finish in front, we're going to be seventh. If that is the case then I think we should be happy with what we've achieved.
"I think we're probably racing Force India around here for that position. So yeah it's exciting. It's nice seeing progress, and the team moving forward."
Both McLarens failed to finish the race last year, having encountered gearbox failures on both Button and Fernando Alonso's cars.
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