World Champion Lewis Hamilton is to experiment without KERS in Friday practice for the British Grand Prix, with his McLaren team wanting to conduct back-to-back tests about its benefits.
The high-speed nature of Silverstone, allied to a lack of heavy braking zones, means the advantages of KERS are not as great at the Northamptonshire track as at other venues. That is why only Heikki Kovalainen will run with it in Friday practice, before the team makes a decision on its plans for the rest of the weekend.
"I am running with it but Lewis is not, Friday at least," confirmed Kovalainen. "I don't think it will affect the balance. I am keen to run KERS and Lewis will try it without KERS, and then we will see what happens."
McLaren's decision means that only three cars will run with KERS on the opening day of practice for the British Grand Prix with Ferrari the only other team sticking with the technology.