KERS loss hurts Ferrari pace – team

The number of F1 cars running KERS has dropped to just five — and possibly just four for Sunday’s Chinese grand prix.

The fact caused Mark Webber to remark on Thursday that the sport would probably not miss the controversial energy re-use technology if it disappeared altogether.

“It’s turned into a bit of a mess hasn’t it, the whole KERS thing,” the Australian, who as a GPDA director has safety concerns about the systems, said.

BMW’s Robert Kubica trialled KERS for the first time in practice on Friday, but it is possible the unit will be extracted from his car overnight.

Neither Ferrari is using the systems this weekend, and it has emerged that Nelson Piquet was the only Renault driver fitted with a KERS in Shanghai practice.

“Ferrari and Renault have binned it, I think,” Red Bull’s Webber said.

His boss Christian Horner on Friday said Red Bull has “no fixed date” for a KERS debut aboard the RB5 in 2009.

Webber believes the fans would not mind if F1 simply walked away from its flirt with KERS.

“No one would kick up a stink, I don’t think.

“Some of the teams might, but you’ve got a common unit next year anyway, so it’s not like anyone’s developing it for next year,” he added.

KERS loss hurts Ferrari pace – team

The loss of KERS has cost Ferrari even more performance, the Italian team admitted on Friday.

Ferrari’s drivers, not running the controversial energy re-use technology for the first time this season due to safety and reliability concerns, struggled for pace in Shanghai free practice.

It had been suggested that the units may also have been removed for performance reasons, but figures of the Maranello based team insist this is not so.

“I can say our fight for the championship is ever more compromised,” Felipe Massa said in China.

The Brazilian said that as a result of not using KERS, “we are losing even more performance”.

Massa said the F60 was already not generating as much downforce as “the best cars”.

Kimi Raikkonen agreed: “We must try and improve the car: at the moment, we are not able to fight for the title.”

Team boss Stefano Domenicali said it is not true that not suffering the weight handicap of the heavy KERS technology improved the handling of the car.

“Let’s not forget, (this car) was designed to carry this system,” he said.

source: GMM