Marussia will not be using KERS on their 2012 car and concentrating instead on making aerodynamic gains, it was revealed on Friday.
Backmarkers concentrating in improving aero performance
Marussia will not be using KERS on their 2012 car, it was revealed on Friday.
Team principal John Booth told
Autosport that they hoped instead to seek significant aerodynamic improvements on the MR01 whilst also citing cost as a mitigating factor.
"With the strides we are looking to make from this year, our focus has to be on aerodynamics first and foremost - as this will yield the greater gains," he said.
"We are looking for seconds rather than tenths."
Caterham who, like Marussia, joined the F1 grid in 2010, were able to make inroads last season without the KERS power boost, which is worth several tenths per lap.
They are using KERS this year but, according to Booth, the significant cost in using the energy recovery system is currently preventing Marussia from following suit.
"Our wider view of KERS is that whilst we are supportive of the concept of regenerative braking as an environmental initiative, the current technology is incredibly expensive," he added.
Manifesto
"It would represent a significant proportion of our operating cost, which is not in keeping with our original manifesto as a low-cost F1 team in an era of resource restriction."
The team, who have dropped their association with Virgin ahead of the new season, are hoping the arrival of former Benetton and Renault technical boss Pat Symonds in a consultancy role will pay dividends.
Symonds is overseeing a shake-up at the team which has already led to the departure of designers Wirth Research and the arrival of McLaren as technical partner.
The team confirmed this week that they will not run their new chassis until the final pre-season test in Barcelona at the start of March.
Marussia are to skip the first test at Jerez altogether and will run last year's MVR-02 in the second test, also at Barcelona.
