McLaren in favour of early KERS decision

The Formula One Teams' Association is working towards a return of the green technology, which was first used in F1 last year but ditched for the current season.

Ferrari and Renault are the main supporters of the idea, with Williams also in favour.

McLaren's Tim Goss, the chief engineer for this year's car, says the British squad is also supportive of the return of KERS, but he reckons a decision must be made soon.

"We fully support what FOTA and the FIA are trying to do in terms of KERS," Goss told reporters during a phone-in on Wednesday.

"Clearly to introduce it for next season, it's starting to get a little bit late in the day. But there are lots of people working on this.

"We understand the need for KERS for the association with road car technology, and we think it's the right thing to bring it back. Really we'll just go along with whatever FOTA and the FIA decide."

Goss feels that thanks to the lessons learned in developing KERS, the new system can be cheaper and more powerful.

We've learned an awful lot since we were designing the system for 2011," he added. "It's realistic to keep the costs down and put the power up. But probably the knock-on effect of that is that it's going to be a little bit bigger and a little bit heavier.

"A lot of the improvements we made to our KERS last year were in the ability to downsize it and make it easier to package in the car and get the weight distribution correct. It's possible."

Goss also reckons Formula 1 should adopt new, greener engines, from 2013, when new rules are expected to come into play.

"As far as 2013 is concerned, I think Formula 1 does need to move on, and show it is aligned with the fuel efficiency age," he said. "We fully support all that the Engine Working Group and FOTA are doing in that direction. The concept of a normally-aspirated 2.4-litre V8 is getting a bit dated. Moving to turbocharging and KERS is the right thing to do.

"Formula 1 does need to maintain itself as the pinnacle of motorsport and engine performance, so it needs an engine formula that is associated with high performance, but also fuel efficiency. Overall it's moving in the right direction and we fully support it."