Theissen hits back at KERS criticism

Monday, 22 December 2008 Dec.22 (GMM) Mario Theissen has hit back at his F1 team colleagues who are critical of the deployment of KERS technology in 2009.

BMW-Sauber has been named by fellow competitors as the only team that vetoed plans to delay the use of controversial energy-recovery systems next year.

KERS is an unpopular buzzword in the F1 paddock, as drivers bemoan the safety implications and teams including Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes criticise the expense and lack of road-relevance.

BMW motor sport director Theissen, however, has hit back, insisting that KERS has been scheduled to debut next year "for quite a long time".

In the German news magazine Spiegel, he hit back at the opposition to the technology, saying "that argument not only speaks of a lack of competitiveness but also a reluctance to play a role in the bigger picture."

FIA president Max Mosley recently criticised Ferrari's stated opposition to KERS.

"Could you imagine the great F1 engineers like Chapman or Duckworth saying 'I can't do that because it is too complicated'?" he said.