Revisiting Another New 2009 Rule: The Use of KERS

KERS:

Kinetic Energy Recovery System is what it’s called and it’s the most radical change in F1 in a long time. This is a system where energy dissipated by braking is stored and can be used for up to 6 seconds a lap to provide 80 hp bursts of speed.

That’s it in a nut shell.

Two reasons it is being used. One is to ‘improve’ F1’s environmental image. I don’t buy that reason, but that’s for a little later. The other reason is part of the road relevant innovations. Yes, something to eventually use in the cars we drive.

KERS hasn’t been without it’s controversy in the last year of development with one BMW Sauber mechanic getting quite a shock when he touched a KERS car entering the pit garage, a fire at the Red Bull plant. It also adds weight to the car as well as a little more bulk and some drivers like Robert Kubica find that it could be a disadvantage to him on the track. Whatever the feelings and ups and downs during development, it will be used this season, but not by all teams at Melbourne.

As I said above, I’m not entirely convinced about KERS. Not for it’s effectiveness as a sort of turbo boost, but for the very reason it’s here, the environmental image! To me this is a feel good gadget the way it’s being used and doesn’t come close to an ‘environmental image’. It’s expensive, possibly dangerous and used sparingly during a race.