The Ferrari mechanic who may have cost Felipe Massa the 2008 world championship will not lose his job.

The unnamed employee was in charge of the button that triggered the green light to be shown to Massa in all ill-fated pitstop during the Singapore grand prix on Sunday.

Not only did the premature move lead to the Brazilian driver pulling away with the refuelling hose still attached, another mechanic was hurt in the melee.

It also almost certainly cost Massa, 27, not only the race win and a likely lead in the drivers' championship, but also the 2008 title, as Lewis Hamilton pulled out a 7 point gap with three races to go.

But despite the implications of his mistake, the mechanic will keep his job, team boss Stefano Domenicali said on Monday.

"We win together, we lose together and in that respect the philosophy will not change because of one unfortunate mistake," he said.

"I don't think a lot of people would want to wear the overalls of the guy who has to manage the pitstop. We have to have a lot of respect for these guys. It is very difficult and they have a lot of pressure," Domenicali added.

Massa suggested after the race that one option for Ferrari is to revert to the standard 'lollipop' system.

Domenicali admits that, after the incident, the other pitstops in Singapore were carried out without Ferrari's controversial 'traffic lights'.

"We will analyse what we did in the other pit stops," he said, although playing down claims that the new electronic system has been constant trouble.

"I remember very well problems with Michael and Rubens (with the lollipop). So it's not true that we have made more mistakes than in the past."


Source: GMM