Team Lotus Confirm No KERS for T128

Some rumors surfaced in the media last week regarding the possibility of Team Lotus not using a Kinetic Energy Recovery System in the early stages of the 2011 Formula 1 championship. And those allegations turned out to be true, as confirmed earlier today by the Norfolk based officials through their online media Team Lotus Notes.

The aforementioned e-magazine's highlight was undoubtedly the launch of the new Lotus T128, but one valuable piece of information related to it would be that KERS will not be fitted on the challenger from the get go.

“The decision made the design job slightly easier, because packaging it in the car is always a bit more of a headache,” said chief designer Lewis Butler, referring to this topic in an interview with Team Lotus Notes.

“It's the same for us in aerodynamics – no KERS is actually easier because packaging all the bits you need for it is actually quite limiting for some of the aero shapes you need in some areas,” added Team Lotus' head of aerodynamics Marianne Hinson, who undermined the importance of KERS for the team's 2011 programme.

Hispania Racing and Marussia Virgin have recently confirmed they will not use KERS in 2011 either, but the difference between Team Lotus and them is that Tony Fernandes' team might incorporate the unit into the T128 (as the car as developed in such a way that it can be fitted with KERS) at a later date. According to chief operating officer Keith Saunt however, doing the whole campaign without KERS is also to be considered.

“If KERS was going to get us from eighth to sixth then we'd have it,” said Saunt. “But when you look at the weight of it and some of the engineering challenges, I think it's a good decision not to start with it. We might end up with it, who knows? But if we did we've got a lot of experienced people who could turn their hands to it.”