Melbourne - Rising Formula One star Sebastian Vettel predicted Tuesday the tightest Formula One season for years with at least five teams vying for the 2009 title.

The 21-year-old Red Bull driver told German Press Agency dpa in Melbourne rule changes made it difficult to make forecasts, but leading teams would be within a fraction of a second of each other.

"There will be very many teams close together. That means all within two or three tenths of a second distance. And that is very, very little compared to previous years," Vettel said.

"It was already very close last year, especially in qualifying. Around 10th place only a couple of hundredths of a second was the difference between Q3 (third qualifying round) and Q2. For this reason I think it's exciting."

The German is regarded as a champion in the making after an excellent season with Toro Rosso when he finished seventh in the drivers' championship and became the youngest grand prix winner in the sport at the Italian GP in Monza.

His performances saw Toro Rosso's parent team Red Bull quickly move to sign him up for 2009.

Vettel said pre-season testing ahead of Sunday's Australian Grand Prix had shown that the new Brawn GP team - successor to Honda - could mount a strong challenge.

"Then come the teams Ferrari, BMW-Sauber, us, Toyota and Williams. That's five teams who are very, very close to each other. You have 10 cars in a small window of two, three tenths of a second," he said.

There was no mention of the McLaren-Mercedes team of world champion Lewis Hamilton which has struggled in testing.

Vettel said the biggest effect of the rule changes for the new season was that cars would have less downforce and thus less grip overall.

"It's not just on the bends but during braking and accelerating that stability is not as it was," he said.

"I think that's the biggest difference but it's not that bad. It's not a completely different drive. I think you adjust to the fact that the car is more nervous and that you have to make more corrections."

Vettel said he had not been affected by the praise heaped upon him after last season's victory.

"I read very little what is written, and don't listen to what most people try to say, or try to make you believe," he said.

"I know why I'm here. I have fun doing what I'm doing. And if you can put one and one together you know that when you hit someone it wasn't good and if you win the race it was good. You know yourself whether you have just messed up or not."

Vettel said the closer it got to Sunday's race the more he was looking forward to racing. But success or not, he would not be changing his ways.

"I don't see any reason to be different as a result of some result I have achieved or will or won't achieve in my sport. I am who I am. I can't act a part, I don't think anyone can," he said.

"I grew up quite normally, went to school quite normally. I am all in all just like anyone else. I am in this sense nothing special."