Ferrari: Strategy 'absolutely vital'

"From what we have seen in winter testing, these tyres are very different to those we used in the past," said Domenicali ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.

"Therefore, we have to adopt a fresh approach and clearly, from what we have seen so far, the number of pitstops required to complete a race distance competitively will be higher than before.

"This is significant in terms of teamwork at the races, because more pitstops means the role of team members becomes even more important in terms of deciding the final outcome of the races. A further impact of having more pitstops is that possibly qualifying and therefore grid position will be less important than in 2010.

"In simple terms it is more likely that a car that has not set the fastest time and taken pole position can still go on to win the race.

"It will be absolutely vital to have the right strategy in order to win the race," he added.

The Italian said his team arrives in Melbourne very well prepared after a strong winter of testing, but he admitted he is staying cautious about its own performance ahead of the first race.

"The atmosphere in the team is good and everyone is keen to get to work in Melbourne, to see where we are compared to the other teams," Domenicali added. "So far, we have done a lot of testing through four test sessions in Spain in February and early March but this will be the chance to see where our base line puts us.

"There were fifteen days of winter testing in total. I am by nature very cautious so in assessing how we went during these days, I have to take into account how we worked through our programme, as well as looking at what the other teams did and because we do not know exactly what the others were doing in testing, I have to remain cautious in rating our own work."

Domenicali insisted there is just one goal for the team this year, saying: "The goal is so clear I don't need to repeat it."