Ferrari: Removing KERS has not helped

After several reliability problems in the previous races, Ferrari decided to abandon the new system for Shanghai. But after struggling in practice today, Felipe Massa said getting rid of KERS was actually a backwards step.

"Here we are also running without KERS and as a result, we are losing even more performance, in addition to not having as much aerodynamic downforce as the best cars," he said.

"Our fight for the championship is ever more compromised.

"We must try and push as hard as possible on the development of the car, but we know it will be very hard to catch up. The only recipe for getting out of this difficulty is to work."

Team boss Stefano Domenicali reckoned that because the car had been designed with KERS in mind, removing the troublesome system had turned out to be counter-productive.

"Clearly, without KERS, we lose a bit of performance and initial indications are that we are not seeing any improvement in the balance of a car that, let's not forget, was designed to carry this system," he said.

"We are in a difficult situation and we must try and stay calm and work hard on all fronts."

But Kimi Raikkonen was less bothered by the loss of the device.

"The balance of the car isn't bad and one doesn't feel the lack of KERS," he said.

"The point is that we are too slow compared to the teams currently at the top of the order. We must try and improve the car. At the moment, we are not able to fight for the title."