Sebastian Vettel is predicting that this season will be even closer than the last as he bids for a fourth Drivers' title.
The 2013 Formula One season gets underway at the Albert Park circuit this weekend with many in the paddock saying it is near to impossible to predict a winner.
Not only were there no clear favourite to emerge from pre-season testing but the lack of rule changes means teams have not been able to get a jump on each other.
As such Vettel reckons fans are in for a closely-fought campaign.
"We are here; we have zero points on our side at the moment, same as everyone else so everyone has the same opportunities," said the reigning World Champ.
"The cars didn't really change, last year we saw it was really close so I don't really expect it to be any different to last year, if anything even a little bit tighter so it will be crucial to make the most out of every single race.
"Testing obviously this year was probably not as conclusive as previous years so we arrive here not knowing what is going to happen but I think it's very exciting, so as every year I'm excited to start.
"I think it's going to be a long year, obviously we're looking forward to this weekend - this is the first of many - but I think we've seen the last couple of years, last year in particular, that it's a long season and every race is very important.
"This is the place we start but then there is many other places coming."
The German, who at 25 is bidding to become the youngest driver to win four titles in a row, added that his past triumphs will have little impact on the new campaign.
"I think the secret is not to think about what happened in the last three years.
"The first title was very, very special. After that you don't have that pressure any more, you've proved to yourself more than anyone else that you can do so.
"After that obviously we had two fantastic years again - very different to each other - but as I said we don't really think about what happened last year or the last three years."
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