The premiere will take place in July, as confirmed by Indian billionaire and team co-owner Vijay Mallya. According to the team owner/principal, the VJM02 will receive the Mercedes-Benz built unit from as early as the 9th event of the year, at Nurburgring. The use of the technology is enforced by the engine deal signed by Force India with the German manufacturer ahead of the 2009 campaign.
“In Germany we will introduce KERS, because the car is KERS enabled and we have a contract with Mercedes for the KERS. By that time the KERS will have been sorted out, McLaren will use their experience and the KERS system will have been debugged if there were any bugs,” argued Mallya his decision (to implement the KERS unit later than the other teams) to online magazine GPWeek.
So far, all teams using the technology – BMW, McLaren, Ferrari and Renault – have complained about their quite obvious ineffectiveness on track. Despite providing a considerable amount of power boost on certain circuits, the unit has some major downsides when it comes to car's balance (less ballast to work with around the car) and rear tire wear.
Some team managers – led by Flavio Briatore – have actually asked the FIA for a KERS ban for the upcoming season, as it has so far proven both expensive and inefficient.
The FOTA is to announce a decision concerning the potential of KERS for the future of the sport during their next meeting, scheduled this Wednesday, in London.
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