Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner was hoping that 2013 would be a case of 'business as usual', at least if that meant picking up another set of driver and constructor championships at the end of the season.
Asked for the secret of the team's success, Horner had no hesitation in identifying the stability of the team in all its key positions as being Red Bull's biggest strength.
“The 2012 season was tough and long, but our success was testimony to all the hard work and dedication in the factory,” he said. “We're fortunate that we've been able to maintain continuity within our group.
"This is the fifth year that this driver pairing has been together," he continued, referring to
Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. "We've [also] got continuity throughout all of the technical teams and all the key areas."
Horner pointed out that the continuity within the team hadn't come by accident, but had been carefully nurtured in order to deliver just the sort of sustained success that the team has enjoyed for the last few seasons.
"As always the competition is phenomenal, so to have won three in a row is quite remarkable," he said. "It's testimony to all the hard work that has gone on.
"We're still a young team, but we're evolving and there is a fierce determination to keep those trophies for another year," he added.
Speaking at the launch of the new RB9 challenger for the 2013 season, Horner gazed at the latest Adrian Newey creation like a proud godparent.
"This car marks a new beginning for us," said Horner, although Newey himself would only settle for describing the latest addition to the
Red Bull Racing family as an "evolutionary" refinement of last year's title-winning version.