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By Alan Baldwin
LONDON- Formula One teams will in future gain their competitive edge from new technology rather than expensive engines, FIA president Max Mosley said on Monday.
The International Automobile Federation head, who will meet the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) in Geneva on Tuesday to discuss urgent cost-cutting measures, highlighted the importance of the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) as one such example.
"KERS will be essential on all road-going vehicles in the future, irrespective of their means of primary propulsion," said Mosley.
"The FIA therefore intends to keep KERS as a performance differentiator in Formula One and, indeed, increase its importance in 2011. "This will give Formula One far more relevance and credibility than the use of vastly expensive racing engines or extremely light and sophisticated gearboxes, both of which are almost entirely irrelevant to modern road transport."
The governing body last week said it intended to change the rules to force the 10 teams to use a standardised engine from 2010 as part of measures to combat the effects of the global credit crunch.
That move, even if it ultimately proves to be a negotiating position, has not been welcomed by the car manufacturers who dominate the sport and would prefer standardisation in other areas such as KERS.
"A standard engine is something we don't really like. I think there are other measures to make sure that costs go down," BMW-Sauber boss Mario Theissen said during last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix.
He added that the teams' experts were looking more at extending the longevity of engines and the greater standardisation of parts.
Mosley made clear the FIA would resist a standard KERS system, which uses the heat generated by the car's brakes for additional power. The manufacturers are all working on their own systems for introduction next year when the rules undergo a major revamp.
"To standardise a new technology which is directly relevant to the biggest single problem confronting road transport- energy efficiency - while allowing continued development in wholly irrelevant areas such as Formula One aerodynamics, is not rational," said Mosley.
"Further thought would seem to be desirable."
"Technologies like KERS, as well as the recovery and re-use of exhaust energy and heat, should be the future performance differentiators in Formula One, not old or useless technologies such as ultra-high speed engines or Formula One-specific aerodynamics."
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