F1 should scrap expensive KERS

(GMM) Amid Honda's shock exit and the urgent need to cut costs, F1 should call off the introduction of KERS systems in 2009.

That is the view of Norbert Haug, motor racing chief of the German manufacturer Mercedes-Benz.

Given Honda's departure due to the global slump in road car sales, Haug told the Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell "the time for games is over" as F1 seeks to slash out of control expenditure.

Numerous teams have recently tried to postpone the planned introduction next year of KERS, but outfits like BMW-Sauber are in favor of the energy-recovery technology.

Haug said KERS "is an extremely expensive exercise" and said the saving to the engine budgets by scrapping it would be at least 25 per cent.

He explained that the KERS concept should not be sidelined entirely, but in the current financial climate the prudent action would be to put it aside and "think about it later".