Mark Webber is confident that the breakthroughs he made in 2009 will see him become a season-long title contender in 2010.
Although the Australian fell out of this year's championship fight with a run of non-scoring races in late summer, he has still enjoyed his best Formula 1 season so far - taking victories in Germany and Brazil.
Those results came despite Webber starting the year with fitness concerns having suffered a broken leg in a cycling accident during the winter.
He now hopes to maintain his current momentum through the closed season and be a frontrunner from the outset in 2010.
"Our hope for 2010 has to be to go for the championships," Webber wrote in his BBC column. "There is only one more position that this team can get, so that is what we have to aim for. We need to keep improving.
"Up until Singapore there were only a couple of points between Sebastian and I so there is absolutely no reason at all why I can't fight for the championship next season."
He admitted that inconsistency cost him a shot at this year's crown.
"I am disappointed that my championship bid faded, but as always you need to put a whole season together," said Webber.
"We had a non-points scoring finish in Melbourne and a couple of ninth-place finishes in Valencia and Spa, where we got a drive-through penalty.
"Lots of little things turn into big things and that is how you lose a championship.
"It was the same for my team-mate Sebastian Vettel. He had a few crashes here and there and the odd failure. That is enough for us not to be in the hunt."
Webber added that he had learned from this and would try not to let any opportunities pass him by in 2010.
"The biggest lesson I have learnt from this season is you need to cut out the little things," he said. "You need to make each session count and really put it together across the season.
"OK I am not 21, but I am not 40 either, so all of this will help me going forward into next year."
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