Ferrari and McLaren Confirm KERS in Monaco

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen

Following reports – hard to believe, we admit – that Ferrari and McLaren Mercedes will use the Kinetic Energy Recovery System in the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix, the two constructors issued confirmation of those rumors this week. So now it's official! We'll have four KERS-powered cars during this weekend's race at Monte Carlo.

From McLaren's side, it was Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen to confirm he'll be using the unit in the Principality. Although admitting he is yet not certain of the potential advantages of the technology on the twisty roads of Monte Carlo, Kova revealed his MP4-24 will be fit with the unit anyway.

“One of the questions will be whether we'll actually be able to use it to get past other cars – as usual, KERS will be a benefit for us, but anything can happen in Monte Carlo,” said Kovalainen ahead of the Monaco GP.

In its preview of the aforementioned race, Italian constructor Ferrari have also admitted that the advantages of the KERS unit will be limited in the Principality, but they've decided to run it anyway, as the design of the F60 needs the unit to secure a good weight distribution of the car.

“But given that the F60 was designed around carrying KERS and this is factored into its weight and distribution, it is logical to run it, no matter how minimal the benefit,”said the Ferrari document. "We’ll use the KERS also at Monaco: it might not have the same advantage as on other tracks, but anyway there’s a performance improvement," added driver Kimi Raikkonen.

Renault and BMW Sauber have both decided not to fit the KERS unit into their 2009 challengers for Monaco, as engineering head Pat Symonds argued it quite eloquently “I would like to see the simulation (showing) that in Monaco you are faster with KERS.” Both teams are expected to use new versions of the system in Turkey, 3 weekends from now.