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Renault to Debut KERS in Australia

Media reports in Great Britain have unveiled that Renault F1 will begin the 2009 season with a functional R29-incorporated Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS). The piece of news came from British magazine Autosport's online edition, arguing that the Enstone-based team has become the first outfit to announce the use of the technology from as early as the season opener in Melbourne.

Several other teams are currently in doubt over using KERS in Australia, as the data collected by the teams' technical departments following the winter tests are not very conclusive. BMW Sauber, Ferrari and McLaren currently hold the highest chances of fitting their cars with KERS by the start of the Aussie GP.

Talking to the media during last week's group test in Barcelona, BMW Sauber's Mario Theissed revealed that a decision on the matter is yet to be taken by the German team. Ferrari and McLaren are also prudent in taking such a decision on the use of KERS, as both outfits have experience reliability issued with the unit during the February-March testings. As for Toyota, the Japanese manufacturer has already announced its F1 team will not use the system in 2009 all-together.

On the other hand, there are the customer teams who are to benefit from KERS as part of their engine deals with F1's manufacturers. However, Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso, Force India, Brawn GP and Williams F1 have all revealed they will not use KERS at least until the Spanish Grand Prix in early May.

From the customer teams' group, Williams F1 are the only team to have developed an in-house KERS through the last year. Team's technical director Sam Michael has also opted for a flywheel-based system, as compared to all the other teams' electric configuration of the unit.

Newly-saved-from-bankruptcy Brawn GP have unveiled they are unlikely to use KERS in 2009, as they have not paid much attention to developing the technology through the winter.
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