Formula One news

FOTA wants KERS ban

The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) has expressed its dissatisfaction over the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), so much so that it hopes to have the device, which is notoriously expensive to develop and only used by four teams thus far, banned for next season.

KERS, new for 2009, has generally not caught on with the majority of teams electing not to run the device so far. "FOTA wants to ban it from 2010," explained Renault team principal Flavio Briatore to Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport. "We understood immediately that KERS was a money-sucking genius, and that the FIA should have taken note of that. It should have been discussed before the start of the season, and the same goes for the diffusers. Having failed to do that has forced on us expenses that are crazy as much as useless."

Renault chief Briatore in Bahrain

So far only Ferrari, McLaren, BMW and Renault have used the device, with other teams believed to be introducing it later in the season, although today's news may result in the halting of any ongoing development. Although no team is forced to use KERS, the FOTA organisation - representing all ten teams - will need official confirmation from governing body the FIA in the event of issuing a ban.

Briatore continued, stating how the Formula One rules have become 'unclear'. "They must become transparent again," he said. "It's either black or white. To this day, I don't yet understand what the FIA means by a 'hole' in the diffuser, so I can imagine the embarrassment for viewers. On top of that, we must all get back on the same footing; today in F1 there are some racing with KERS and some without, some with the super diffuser and some without - that's not good."

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