Renault Confirm Non-KERS for Barcelona & Monaco

While announcing a revised package for the Spanish Grand Prix, Renault have confirmed they will not use the Kinetic Energy Recovery System during the upcoming two races. The move seems quite logical, given the characteristics of the next 2 circuits – Barcelona and Monaco – which make it almost impossible to deploy the technology with actual effectiveness.

The information about Renault's strategy for the next two races was unveiled by German publication Auto Motor und Sport. However, it does not come as a surprise, especially since team boss Flavio Briatore recently announced the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) will discuss a potential move to ban the unit from 2010 onwards.

In an interview for Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport (ahead of the Bahrain GP last weekend), Briatore unveiled the ban will become a main discussion point during the upcoming FOTA meeting in London, on May 6th.

Designed to turn kinetic energy resulted from braking into extra horsepower at acceleration - via a battery - the KERS unit would have little efficiency in Monaco. As for the Barcelona track, only the main straight could be used for the deployment of the unit. On the downside, however, being a high downforce circuit, using the extra kilograms of KERS could seriously affect rear tire wear.

Briatore announced a revised double diffuser will see daylight at Barcelona, making for the second step in diffuser development for the Enstone based team. The new design will feature further modifications to the pipeline, while a more advanced design is to be ready by Monaco.