Marussia has decided against having KERS on its car for the 2012 Formula 1 season, AUTOSPORT has learned.
As the outfit bids to make the most of a major restructuring and design overhaul under the guidance of technical chief Pat Symonds, it believes its progress could be hampered if it adds KERS to its workload for the season ahead.
Although the decision means that it will suffer a laptime deficit compared to its KERS-running rivals, with the energy recovery systems worth a few tenths of a second per lap, the team believes that not having to expend efforts into getting the complicated technology working will be more beneficial in the long run.
Marussia team principal John Booth said that the call on KERS came about because the outfit is so eager to ensure that it makes a big step this season.
"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," Booth told AUTOSPORT. "We are looking for seconds rather than tenths."
Booth also suggested that as well as the performance reasons behind the decision, there were also cost implications - because the Marussia outfit has always been mindful of keeping its budget in check.
"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 said. "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."
Last year, Team Lotus made a similar decision not to race with KERS because it felt that the outfit would be better off focusing its effort on other areas of car performance.
That gamble paid off because the team secured the 10th place in the Constructors' Championship that it needed to secure a bigger prize money pay out from commercial rights income.
Marussia's 2012 car will appear for the first time at the final pre-season F1 test, which takes place at Barcelona from March 1.
Autosport.com
