Sebastian Vettel says he has no expectation of an easy ride in Formula 1 in 2012 - but also insists that his 2011 domination was not as crushing as it looked.
The Red Bull superstar wrapped up his second straight title with a commanding 122 point cushion this year, with an incredible tally of 11 wins, six other podiums and 15 pole positions from 19 races.
Speaking as he collected the International Racing Driver of the Year accolade at last night's Autosport Awards, Vettel said he had sensed the competition closing up towards the end of 2011, but that he had never he had as much in hand over his rivals as people suggested.
He argued that if anything Red Bull's 2010 car had been potentially more dominant than their 2011 machine, but that this season they simply did a better job at maximising every single opportunity.
"Surely the competition will be higher [in 2012]," said Vettel.
"We have seen particularly McLaren at the end of the year being very strong with Jenson [Button] and Lewis [Hamilton].
"So it will not be a walk in the park, but I don't think it has been this year.
"We had a phenomenal start.
"But then I think the racing has been very close, and I don't think our car was that dominant this year.
"Last year we had a more competitive car in that regard.
"This year we were a more competitive team and we were able to do things in a different way, in a better way, and in the end that led to a good start and from a television side maybe a boring race, but it is not that easy at all how these things come together."
The German still thinks Red Bull have room to improve for 2012 as well.
"You never go into a season aiming to achieve less than you did the year before," he said.
"Of course there are still things that we did not achieve 100 per cent this year.
"There are some mistakes we can learn from, and I hope we do."