The F.O.T.A. wants to ban KERS from 2010!

The FOTA, comprising the leaders of the teams present in Formula 1, announced its intention to ban the use of KERS from next season. Flavio Briatore, in an interview with the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, expressed his indignation at the low number of teams using the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS in French) since the start of the 2009 season and therefore wants to oppose the FIA.

The International Automobile Federation had recommended the use of KERS for the 2009 season, intending to make it mandatory in 2010. At the beginning of the year, four teams (Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, and BMW) announced they were using KERS, while six others were not. Briatore is not happy with the situation and would prefer to do without it in 2010, despite the ecological benefits of the system that the FIA is keen to highlight. It is indeed part of a pact that soon includes the use of green fuels.

Responding to a journalist; Briatore, director of the Renault F1 Team, states: « Yes, the FOTA would like to ban the use of KERS in 2010. »

« We all quickly realized that KERS was an endless money pit, and the FIA must take note of that. We need to discuss it before the start of the season, just like with the diffusers. If we don’t, we risk spending money left and right, as usual! »

The KERS and the diffusers are indeed the two important elements at the start of this championship. Some teams have them, others don’t, still due to a more or less precise regulation. Briatore’s team, Renault, then spent a lot to design a new diffuser, different from the one used throughout the off-season, with the aim of getting back on track. Things that annoy the Italian: « It’s the fault of unclear regulations! They want to be transparent. It has to be black or white! »

« To this day, I still don’t understand what the FIA means about the diffusers, so I can’t even imagine the confusion of the viewers. Some teams have the KERS, others don’t, some have the super diffuser, others don’t. This isn’t good for F1 at all! »

The FIA wants to reduce costs in Formula 1 by capping a team’s annual budget starting in 2010. These measures are more or less well-received but are not at all in line with the implementation of KERS or double diffusers. The FIA and the FOTA continue the battle in an increasingly visible war.