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May 23rd
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Webber: KERS in Sepang a 'no-brainer'

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Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber believes that the team should be running their Kinetic Energy Recovery System on the car in Malaysia, although there is still no guarantee that they will stick with the device for the full weekend.

The caffeinated team removed their KERS devices from their cars after Friday practice at the season opener in Australia, in what team boss Christian Horner called a tactical decision based on reliability concerns.

Red Bull will start the Malaysian GP weekend with KERS fitted, but have not yet made a clear commitment to running it for the whole weekend.

But with the power boost from the energy recovery system likely to be far more beneficial to drivers down the Sepang circuit's long straights, Webber has suggested that the issue over whether they run it is a "no-brainer".

"We need to run tomorrow and see," he told reporters in Malaysia on Thursday when asked if the team was ready to run KERS for the full weekend.

"We haven't tested it since Melbourne. It is the first time it has gone back on the car, so it will give us some more confidence here tomorrow."

But he added: "It's a no-brainer [to use it]. You need to get KERS working reliably and, well, it is something you should have on the car."

Although the team management has not committed to KERS for the full weekend yet, the team was reportedly happy with the performance of the device in practice in Melbourne, and another reliable test tomorrow will likely see the team keep KERS for the weekend.

Earlier this week, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko suggested: "We tested the system in practice but we were quick enough in Australia without having to use it. In Malaysia, however, we want to use it."

The Bild newspaper in Germany has reported that the six second power boost from the KERS button will be worth over half a second a lap around Sepang.

Meanwhile, Webber also said that he was confident he would be back on the pace in Malaysia, after being thoroughly outperformed by his team mate Sebastian Vettel in his home race two weeks ago.

The Australian driver said that the team had got to the bottom of some "issues" with his RB7 car that had hindered his performance at Albert Park.

"There were a few issues we found post-race which certainly did not help the situation," he muttered conspiratorially, "We are not going to go into it too much further than that.

"We will do a better job this weekend, get more out of the car and hang out at the front like we normally have been."

He added that the Pirelli tyres would likely be the big factor this weekend, with the hot conditions and abrasive track expected to lead to as many as four stops per driver in the race.

"It will be interesting on the tyres. No one knows how that will unfold," Webber shrugged, "This is probably the most extreme situation [Pirelli] have faced so far as a company.

"Let's see how they go, as even by their own admission they are expecting a few pit stops. We will drive around, make those pit stops and carry on."