Formula One news

Renault gives reasons for not using KERS

Renault has elected not to run the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) in China this weekend, having used it in the first two races. As well as scrapping KERS in Shanghai, the French squad has also introduced a new double diffuser on Fernando Alonso's car.

"I think we did some more analysis to see how the device works at some circuits, and we saw that it was time to do a real test," the Spaniard said of KERS. "Also, we had some concerns - we had problems in Malaysia with the rain, there was some water in the system and we know it is not ideal in terms of safety."

The supposed gamble to not use the system appeared to have paid off in qualifying, as Alonso planted his Renault into second position behind pole man Sebastian Vettel; the Spaniard is the lightest car on the grid, however, so will want to lead on lap one and attempt to pull away during his short first stint, if he is to have any hope of finishing competitively. On the contrary, team-mate Piquet was eliminated in Q1 and starts 16th, and mentioned to Spain's TV3 that the team had not felt "100 per cent" about using KERS.

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