Mark Webber says 2012 will be very different, expects very strong season

The Red Bull Racing driver was overshadowed by team-mate Sebastian Vettel in 2011, scoring just one win to the young German's 11 victories.

Webber, however, is adamant that next year will be very different for him, as he reckons he is still performing strongly despite the difficulties of this season.

"The next most important race is Melbourne and next year will be different to this year, because that's just the way I'm sure things will go," Webber told Reuters in an interview.

"I'm very, very optimistic and positive that I'll have a very, very strong season and that's what I'm going to look forward to. I'm still driving very, very well.

"It's an extremely fine line before you start to unlock a few other things that can make your season go from good, which was this year, to great, and that's what I need to be able to try and do."

Webber won the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, something he labelled as a tonic for him after the tough year.

He says his first victory of the year had been close in previous races though.

"I think that (the victory) was brewing off the back of a few events where, on the surface it might not have looked that I might have been challenging, but there were certain things coming that I was getting more confident about," he added.

"Yes, Seb (Vettel) had to manage an issue but irrespective of that, you still need to pounce and capitalise on other people's misfortunes. That's motor sport at the end of the day.

"It's good to have our feet up a little bit, it's a long, long season as we all know. But to be honest I probably wouldn't have it any other way. I still absolutely love my racing and I'm really looking forward to, it's 100 days apparently before we get back to Melbourne, so looking forward to getting back in the car and racing."