Ferrari is the first Formula One team to ditch the problematic KERS energy-boost system, electing not to use it for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.
Ferrari had a failure in the KERS system on Kimi Raikkonen’s car during practice for the previous race in Malaysia earlier this month, and while it went ahead with the technology for the race at Sepang, it has elected not to do so for Shanghai.
“We need to understand what happened to the system from the point of view of safety and reliability,” Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said. “It has delivered a performance benefit, but if it is not running safely and reliably, we can no longer take the risk of running it.”
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The KERS technology stores energy from braking, which can then be used at driver discretion to provide a brief power boost for up to 6 seconds per lap.
The teams that have used KERS so far this season have had little success, despite added straight-line speed, and the device does add extra weight to the car.
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