RBR team boss Christian Horner says that the caffeinated team are well aware of the progress that their rivals can make with their 2012 cars, but says that the team will not speculate on a pecking order until the start of the season.
The Red Bull squad dominated the 2011 season with their RB7 car, with Sebastian Vettel securing back-to-back championships in comfortable style.For 2012, with the regulations remaining relatively unchanged, Red Bull are expected to remain the team to beat.
However, the main technical change, which sees 2011's blown diffusers banned, could affect the Red Bull squad more significantly than their rivals, with the RB7's system believed to be the most efficient in the sport.
Furthermore, early reports have already speculated that a new raft of technical developments are already coming to light, including a 'reactive' ride height adjustment system from the Lotus squad.
And while Horner believes that it will be impossible to know the pecking order for sure until the first race of the season, he has insisted that Red Bull will not be underestimating the development potential of their rivals.
"It's the month of January and we don't see any of the other teams so there are obviously bits of speculation that float around and snippets that come out here and there," he mused to the crowds at the Autosport International show this weekend.
"But we are very much focused on keeping our heads down and going about our own business and at the end of the day it only counts what happens in Melbourne onwards."
He added: "As a technical group I think we have proven to be adept at changing to different regulations, but we don't underestimate McLaren and Ferrari or even Mercedes."
The team's 2011 campaign was marked by Vettel's domination, with the German securing eleven wins an fifteen pole positions on his way to becoming the youngest-ever double world champion.
And Horner chillingly suggested that there was no reason why their young superstar wouldn't get even better in 2012, saying that he was still "evolving" as a driver.
"Technically he is very strong, physically he is very strong and obviously he has got an enormous amount of natural talent and intelligence," he gushed regarding Vettel.
He added: "I think in many respects getting that first championship on his CV by winning it so dramatically at the last race, released him. He just made another step in 2011 and drove with such composure and confidence.
"I think the exciting thing about Sebastian is that at only 24 years of age, he is still evolving, he is still getting better and I think the best is yet to come from him."
And he also saved some words of comfort for the team's second driver Mark Webber, saying that he was sure the Australian could bounce back in 2012 after his disappointing 2011 season.
"Mark had a difficult start to the year but he adapted and he worked hard at it and he worked hard to understand the tyres in particular," he grinned.
"And his performances grew and grew throughout the year and it was great to see him win that final race in Brazil.
"He has gone away and trained hard through the winter and his enthusiasm has rejuvenated and I think 2012 could be a very strong year for Mark."
He added that the team were delighted with the Vettel/Webber partnership, saying: "For us it is a great pairing.
"Okay there is over a 10-year age difference between the two of them, so they are at different stages of their career, so they push each other very hard and they bring the best out of each other I think."
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