Driver aids to hamper reliability over long-term?

The systems were legally re-introduced for last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, but with many teams struggling to optimise their systems in time, several problems and failures were indirectly or directly attributed to them. F1 insiders say the problems are unlikely to be completely ironed out within the next few races.

BMW Motorsport boss Mario Theissen told Autosport magazine that an engine is put under extra stresses if the system is not fully-optimised. Williams-BMW opted to use launch control, but decided against using traction control in qualifying and the race.

"There are basically two problems if you don't get it right," said Theissen. "The first is vibration, the other is heat. Retarding and cutting ignitions, which you do with traction control, can lead to uncontrolled combustion, which can lead to high temperatures and then damage to either the engine or its environment."

The driver aids also put extra strain on clutches and associated systems - pulling away from pit stops is believed to be especially stressful on the clutches now. McLaren's Mika Hakkinen lost certain victory on the final lap of Sunday's race when his clutch failed, but the team has not yet confirmed if the clutch was damaged in the Finn's second and final pit stop.

"The way they were leaving the pits was quite violent, yes," said Technical director Adrian Newey. "It may have contributed. We have had occasional clutch problems, but what the cause of this is, we don't know. And it may be that we never will, because it got so hot it probably destroyed the evidence."

Despite the systems helping a driver during starting and cornering, world champion Michael Schumacher does not believe they will reduce the challenge - or the workload.

"It has always been a challenge to set a car up for different conditions," he said, "but [driver aids] mean there are more options for the drivers and the teams to find different limits in different corners.

"Now you have to set the car up for high-speed corners and low-speed corners, whereas in the past they were very similar for the electronics to sort out. The days have definitely got longer because there are more things to discuss with the engineers."

Schumacher's sentiments were not echoed by Jaguar Racing team-leader Eddie Irvine, who said: "I think this is wrong for F1, but it makes my job easier. It's the same money but with less effort."