Felipe Massa predicted Ferrari would remain firm title contenders despite recent rule changes for the 2009 season.

That was just one of the many complications which left Ferrari staff looking and sounding only cautiously optimistic about the 2009 season.

With so many changes due this year - including the return of slick tyres, the implementation of a new kinetic energy recovery system (KERS), the restriction on the use of engines to eight per season and aerodynamic alterations - rarely has there been such a mystery surrounding the progress each team is making.

Testing during the season has also been abolished, which means all teams taking part in the 2009 World Championship will only be permitted to work on their cars during the racing weekend.

Ferrari tested their car's KERS system for the first time on Monday with Massa guiding the F60, named to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Formula One and Ferrari's unbroken commitment to the sport since its inception, around the Mugello circuit.

After completing approximately 100 kilometres, Massa was satisfied with the new technology.

"The car is completely different to what we were used to up to last year," he said.

"Today was not the day to do 100 laps and post times because when the rules change so greatly from one year to another, like KERS, for example, you have a completely different feeling for driving the car.

"Today we resolved little problems that arise on the first day, but I am quite happy to do 100 kilometres and use KERS, which was the most worrying aspect of today.

"In the end, we used it a little to start with and gradually increased the power and this is very positive."

Like everybody else in Formula One, Massa knows he is on a learning curve.

"At the moment, we are at the start of a different cycle in Formula One and it won't be an easy experience," he said.

"But I am convinced we can be competitive again."

The changes to the set-up are a result of cost-cutting measures recently announced by the sport's governing body, the FIA, in concordance with the Formula One Teams' Association.

According to Ferrari director Stefano Domenicali, there remains plenty of uncertainty about how each team will work this year.

"I believe a new approach for testing will lead to an interpretation of the weekend which is different to recently," he said.

"Both Friday and Saturday will be different to what we are used to.

"At the start of the season, there are going to be more unknowns than in the past.

"Therefore, we have got to be cautious with our analysis (of our own car) as we have got to see where our rivals are, then we can evaluate."

Ferrari technical director Aldo Costa explained that the main testing of the cars will now have to be carried out on the Fridays before each race, meaning heavy traffic on a day traditionally reserved for fine-tuning and personalisation of the cars.

"I expect everybody to be out there doing laps on the Friday," Costa said.

"I think the track will therefore reach its optimal condition sooner than in recent years, but in reality it will be difficult to do back-to-backs on the Friday.

"It is not the ideal scenario for testing."

Domenicali believes every second of pre-season testing must therefore be exploited to compensate.

"This year we have a project which is particularly complicated, different and new from a technical point of view," he said.

"Let's not forget also that further modifications were introduced in the last few months for the purpose of saving money and this had an impact on the technical side of things.

"This was a new challenge and required new technology in a very, very tight timeframe.

"It will be a season, I believe, in which the team who takes the best advantage of all the time they are permitted to work on the car can win.

"It is going to be hard, we know, but we have got to take this challenge and try to take home the best result possible."

The car will now be dismantled and analysed at Maranello before the team move to Portimao, Portugal, for the next stage of testing next Monday, learning from the conclusions drawn from the launch.

"Lots of systems are new and we now have to download all of the data and try to make head and tail of it," explained Domenicali.

"Any problems which emerge from the tests on the track today will have to be resolved in further tests."

Ferrari, like every other team, now face a race against time getting their car into pristine condition for the first race of the season in Melbourne on March 29.

Only then will they know how serious their challenge for both the drivers' and constructors' title will be in 2009, although supremacy is again the target.

"Our objectives are obviously to be always up there," proclaimed Domenicali.

"We have shown that in the last 10 years, in which we have won eight times."