Domenicali: Human error always a part of F1.

Human errors cannot be eliminated from Formula 1, Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has warned - despite it arguably having been just such 'human errors' that ultimately cost Felipe Massa the 2008 world championship crown.

Refuelling issues in Hungary and - with far more dramatic consequences - Singapore significantly harmed Massa's challenge for the laurels during the course of the campaign, with the Brazilian in the end coming up just one point shy of glory.

Whilst insisting that tireless work has taken place over the winter months in an effort to ensure that quality control is further tightened and such mistakes are not repeated in 2009, Domenicali admitted that there will always be some margin for error.

"The procedural reliability is part of the overall reliability," he mused during the Mugello launch of the new F60, so named to commemorate the fact that the Scuderia will be the only team to have competed in all 60 editions of the world championship since its official inception back in 1950.

"Human errors remain a characteristic of the team and the drivers, which gives a certain humanity to racing. We have tried to improve the procedures and we have introduced people from different areas to improve the procedures and increase concentration - but human error will always be a part.

"Ours is a logic of dynamic stability, promoted by our president; the organisation's modifications go in this direction - to improve every single aspect of the team, whilst strengthening the areas where we didn't give 100 per cent at the same moment. It will be a very interesting year for all of us as far as our sport is concerned."

Recognising the fact that in the current economic climate it is 'a difficult moment' for F1, Domenicali also backed up Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo's assertion that the complicated new KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems) technology is an expensive 'contradiction-in-terms' at a time when slashing expenditure is the primary concern.

"First of all I want to make a political consideration as far as the KERS is concerned," the Italian underlined. "Our position, which we discussed with other teams, is that in a moment when one has to reduce costs, the introduction of such a system is a contradiction-in-terms.

"We can decide if we want to use KERS in our car and when it's clear that the system will effectively improve the performance, which it seems to do in simulations, it will be our task and technical challenge to push on with it. Today is a very important day also as far as this system is concerned, and we're testing the new system on the track. I don't expect any surprises, but we'll definitely see the problems when it's used on the track.

"As you know, tests are limited to 15,000 kilometres this year and there's no possibility to test after the start of the season. I expect that test stands and simulations will be used much more. As I already said there will be many more problems, but our main objective is reliability. Last year we paid a high price; this year, with a new system as complex as KERS, our main objective is the verification of reliability. The car on the track today confirms it - it's fitted with KERS."

Domenicali added that team consultant and occasional test driver Michael Schumacher will provide the squad with the benefit of his experience as the only one of Maranello's drivers 'with experience with slick tyres', and confirmed that 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen - who has been granted permission to participate on the annual Arctic Lapland Rally in his homeland later this month - will have a new race engineer in the form of Andrea Stella, with Chris Dyer moving to 'an important role in the co-ordination of the race engineers'.

"The drivers are highly motivated," the 43-year-old affirmed, "and they are here today to test the new car, which is a different and complex project. Traditionally we always have a very open relationship with our drivers - we were criticised when Michael Schumacher played football on the race weekends. Letting Kimi drive a two-day rally is the same approach; we consider it two days of tests for him, although it's not Formula 1.

"Staying on top [is the objective]. Over the last ten years we have won eight times. The project is extremely difficult now, beyond what we have already planned. Over the last months we introduced several modifications, to find solutions, to limit costs. These modifications had an impact on the car's technical preparations.

"At the moment we're analysing the data and have been out for our first run. There will be even more challenges and technical modifications to do in the short-term. I think that whoever will be able to exploit the car the best way possible, will prevail against the other teams; everybody's goal is to maximise the results we have to bring home. It will be a very particular and stimulating season from every point-of-view."