But even before the first lights have gone out at Albert Park, there’s a worry that 2013 could just be known just as ‘the season that came before the one where they changed all the rules’, something that’s already on the mind of Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

“2014 is going to be a risk for everyone. The thing at the moment is that nobody knows where anyone is with their respective engines,” he told us. “It’s a big regulation change, but then the regulation changes from 2008/2009 were the biggest in 25 years, and we coped with that one alright. It’s a challenge for all the engineers and an exciting one. As you can see this year, the development has reached the top of the curve now and the cars - if they’re not looking similar - they’re evolutions of their successors. Whereas 2014 is a clean sheet of paper both with the drivetrain and chassis.

“I think that’s exciting for all the engineers involved. Of course it’s going to be a matter of balance: balancing your resources between 2013 and 2014. Hopefully we’ll be competing for championships this year, and looking forward to 2014 as well. Some teams may switch all their resources to 2014 quite early on. Hopefully we won’t be in that situation.”