Being that Heidfeld is much lighter than his Pole teammate – not to mention shorter – his car was fitted with KERS in both Australia and Malaysia as it permitted the BMW mechanics to distribute ballast around the car. For Kubica, however, the German team is now preparing a lighter version of the BMW Sauber F1.09 – to feature KERS without affecting the car's balance – ready to be implemented from as early as the Spanish Grand Prix.
“We are aiming to prepare the cars for KERS with him. That includes development on the KERS side as well as the car side. The issue is weight and the lack of ballast then to properly balance the car,” said BMW Sauber motorsport director Mario Theissen.
“It is not the KERS [alone] that causes the problem and we are working on that. My view is that in the course of the season you will need KERS to be up front - not just on the grid, but also in the race,” added the German official.
Even without using KERS, Kubica was in a strong position to challenge for the race win in season's opening Australian Grand Prix. Unfortunately, a track incident with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel – after he overtake the German driver for 2nd place – sidelined the BMW driver with only a few laps remaining.
Although Theissen kept quiet on his team's plans to introduce the revised version of the F1.09, it is believed BMW will debut Kubica's new car in Spain, the very debut of Formula 1 in Europe this year.
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