Ferrari will not run KERS in China

The reigning constructors' champion was one of only four teams ready to run KERS in time for the Melbourne season-opener, but has had a very poor start to the season and is currently at the foot of the points table having failed to score in the first two rounds.

Domenicali said that while Ferrari had gained performance from KERS, repeated issues with it during race weekends had forced the decision to withdraw it for now.

He explained that Kimi Raikkonen's KERS drama at the end of the Malaysian Grand Prix would have ruled him out of the restart had one taken place.

"Because we had time, we tried to understand the problem exactly, but then it was a problem that was not good to go out with," said Domenicali.

"That's why I can say that we will not use KERS this weekend. It is a decision that we have taken because we need to understand the system exactly from a safety point of view, and a reliability point of view.

"It is for sure giving us performance, but until the moment the system is safe and reliable, we cannot risk it.

"At this moment we need to be basic, we need to bring home what we can in these conditions and wait for the development of the new car and then see. At this stage it is really important to be basic with everything."

The non-KERS cars have dominated the results so far this season, although Nick Heidfeld used the device on the way to second place for BMW Sauber at Sepang.

While Ferrari is putting its KERS on hold for China, BMW driver Robert Kubica is set to run the system for the first time in practice tomorrow, having previously felt that his height meant the weighty device was a disadvantage for him.

But Fernando Alonso, whose Renault team had KERS from the start of the year, said today that the squad is "open-minded" about whether to continue using the system.