SAKHIR, Bahrain — Ferrari will use the KERS power-boost device on only one of its cars at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix as it searches for a way to turn around its poor start to the 2009 season.
Kimi Raikkonen said Thursday that he will not use the device in Friday practice, while teammate Felipe Massa would. The team plans to assess which strategy gets better results.
“I won’t use it tomorrow,” Raikkonen said. “The other car will run it tomorrow and then we will make a decision about which way we go. We want to look a little bit to compare the two cars and see what difference it makes.”
Ferrari has gone through the opening three races without a point for the first time since 1981. The team had initially been eager to use KERS on both cars in Bahrain to turn around its season, believing KERS would be suited to the long straights and sharp braking zones of Sakhir.
However, Raikkonen said the KERS-free car he used in the last round in China was not noticeably worse than the KERS-equipped one he used in Australia and Malaysia.
“It is probably faster in quite a few places, but the car was not too bad in the last race after qualifying,” Raikkonen said. “We could have been faster with it there, but there is not much difference driving with or without for us.”
With or without KERS, Massa said the chances of Ferrari turning around its season in Bahrain — as it did last year — appear remote.
“You can never say never, but for sure it’s not so easy,” Massa said. “I believe we can have a good race. If we are going to win or not, it’s a different thing. But I believe we can be more competitive and score good points.
“We need to start our championship, because at the moment we haven’t started it yet.”
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