Ferrari to race KERS in Melbourne

Ferrari has given its Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) the sign-off for use from next weekend's Australian Grand Prix, AUTOSPORT can reveal.

Following successful tests of the system during its pre-season development programme, Ferrari is heading to the race in Melbourne intending for both Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen to have KERS fitted to their cars.

Ferrari is the second team to confirm its KERS will be used in Melbourne, with Renault having announced earlier this week that it would use it in Australia.

BMW Sauber has also said that its system is race-ready, but the team is not yet decided about whether it will be used.

Although Ferrari admitted at the start of the development of the F60 that its KERS system was late, the team has made good progress since then - despite a few issues in testing.

Technical director Aldo Costa said the team's plan from the start was always to have KERS ready for Australia, although a contingency plan had been put in place.

"The objective is to arrive at the first race with a functioning and competitive KERS, but we also have a B plan: not a different car but a version without KERS," he said in January.

Source: autosport.com