- Technical news
Ferrari will use KERS in 2011
- Teams:
- Ferrari
Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali has revealed his cars will run Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) next season.
KERS was introduced in 2009 and is still allowed under the current regulations, but in order to cut costs the teams collectively agreed not to use it this year. However, after F1 teams met in Canada to discuss technical matters relating to the 2011 season, Ferrari - a strong supporter of the energy recovery system due to its road car division - confirmed it would use the technology.
Ferrari has been among a number of teams pushing hard to allow KERS to be much more powerful in 2011, but instead the minimum weight of the car-plus-driver will be raised. The weight handicap of KERS was considered to be one of the main problems with the technology in 2009 and from 2011 the minimum limit will rise from 620 to 640kg to accommodate it.
"The teams have agreed for a higher basic weight for the car," he confirmed. "This helps to ensure KERS can be used effectively. We would have preferred to see a solution in which much more energy is available [for KERS]. But unfortunately no agreement could be found. As a compromise we are staying with the existing regulations.
"The regulations are nevertheless good enough to kick-start the development and to see if the system works. In any case, we plan to use it for every race [in 2011]. At least that is the current strategy."
It is understood that the reason for staying with a lower power output is that some manufacturers would have had trouble adapting their existing technology. But while it has been suggested that another major problem for KERS in 2009 is that the systems were voluntary to run, it has emerged that the units will not be compulsory in 2011.
Mercedes, for instance, is considering whether to use KERS next year, even though it had already started on a programme with a view to running it in 2011. "We will make a decision [about KERS for 2011] within four to six weeks," said Ross Brawn.