Toro Rosso presents in Australia without the KERS

Giorgio Ascanelli for Scuderia Toro Rosso did not specify a precise date for the introduction of its KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System). The team confirmed yesterday that it will not use it in the first two races of the season (Australia and Malaysia).

The team based in Faenza is the latest to unveil its 2009 car following a shakedown in Adria, Italy, last week.

Even with initially positive impressions of the STR4, team leaders Giorgio Ascanelli and Franz Tost have confirmed they will start the season without KERS.

« I feel like saying that you can exclude us from the list of teams present in Melbourne with the KERS. It seems very unlikely, we are more on a timeline such as China, » said Ascanelli.

Tost insisted on the need to focus on other areas of the car rather than on the KERS.

« To be honest, I don’t think we will go to Australia with the KERS because we want to do things step by step. The first step is to learn as much as possible from the car and establish reliability. Then, afterward, we will think about the KERS. »

Tost added that the weight of the system has led to question marks over the benefits of using this technology.

« I think the KERS will be an interesting topic because the system itself is quite heavy and it will have a huge influence on the weight distribution in the car, » he stated.

« Of course, you have an advantage after the system start on long straights, like here in Barcelona or in Bahrain, but there is also the matter of tire degradation.

« This means that the advantage you gained over a six-second straight-line period is penalized by tire degradation. It’s a compromise. I think that from one team to another, each has its strategy to determine if it’s an advantage to go out with the KERS or not. »