Webber- No one would miss KERS

[Sleeper]

http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=45583

I agree with him, to be honest its no surprise that the fastest cars in F1 havnt got KERS, and lets not mention a certain aero device because Red Bull doesnt use it and they're about 2nd fastest at the moment.

[ShiftingGears]

Wanting KERS to be developed for one year and then standardised while wanting to cut costs at the same time was complete and utter idiocy.

[Dave B]

Webber's right. It's benefits barely outweigh its cost and drawbacks, and it's likely to be either standardised or scrapped anyway.

[F1boat]

I also think that it is not necessary.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

In some cases it has improved the on-track action. E.g. Alonso v Webber and Hamilton v Webber in Malaysia.

[gloomyDAY]

KERS is outdated, expensive, and tempermental.

Absolute rubbish and should not be a part of F1.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

Well Felipe does.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74535

[Shifter]

I am a corner worker, and if I was working an F1 race it would be nice to know I could respond to a wrecked car without being electrocuted.

[Daika]

What is the KERS?? I hear people talked about that is is very usefull in straight/long circuits (monza i guess). Is this some kind of Mario kart turbo button? not usable in corners but straights?

[christophulus]

McLaren seem to have made theirs work just fine, no drama from exploding batteries and it's probably a major factor in them keeping pace with the others given their aero problems.

And Williams' system sounds really interesting with the flywheel system instead of the batteries. All technology has its initial drawbacks, but I'm all for KERS once it's up and running, although launching it in an environment of cost-cutting was hardly the best timing.

[ioan]

My only problem with KERS is that it was introduced only as a knee jerk measure to improve overtaking, yes it's using regenerated energy but for the wrong purpose.

It's like regenerating nuclear fuel in order to use it in a nuclear warhead.

I would have much more appreciated it if KERS would have been introduced as a mean to lower fossil fuel consumption and thus making it really a road car relevant green technology.

[ioan]

What is the KERS?? I hear people talked about that is is very usefull in straight/long circuits (monza i guess). Is this some kind of Mario kart turbo button? not usable in corners but straights?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regenerative_brake#Kinetic_Energy_Recovery_Systems


Yep, sadly it is some kind of boost to pass device. It can be used during cornering too but I guess that spinning would increase a lot in that case.

[Daika]

Can you use KERS all the time or only in certain moments like long straights?

[Dave B]

Theoretically you could use it at any time, but it's only useful when there's minimum risk of spinning. Also at speed the drag of the car means its usefulness is limited. In practice this means at the start of a straight. Tactically it could also be used when trying to overtake, or defending a place.

[ioan]

Can you use KERS all the time or only in certain moments like long straights?

You can use it for 6.7 seconds/lap, whenever you want (according to Kimi's answer to the journos ;) ).

[Dr. Krogshöj]

My only problem with KERS is that it was introduced only as a knee jerk measure to improve overtaking, yes it's using regenerated energy but for the wrong purpose.

It's like regenerating nuclear fuel in order to use it in a nuclear warhead.

I would have much more appreciated it if KERS would have been introduced as a mean to lower fossil fuel consumption and thus making it really a road car relevant green technology.

I totally agree with you.

When Max came up with the KERS idea around 2005, the Push-to-Pass system pioneered by Champ Car was very successful, for example A1GP adopted it as well. Around that time, the automotive industry entered the era or eco-publicity and F1 felt the need to be more green. Maybe Max had a brain storm and thought that he can kill two birds with one stone.

But if energy recovery was used to save fuel instead, it would also become an important element in strategy. So it would contribute to ecological responsibility of the sport but also become a factor in an important aspect of the racing in a subtle way. And the revised aero would take care of the overtaking problem.

[I am evil Homer]

My only problem with KERS is that it was introduced only as a knee jerk measure to improve overtaking, yes it's using regenerated energy but for the wrong purpose.

It's like regenerating nuclear fuel in order to use it in a nuclear warhead.

I would have much more appreciated it if KERS would have been introduced as a mean to lower fossil fuel consumption and thus making it really a road car relevant green technology.

Absolutely! KERS as an idea is very good, but it's current useage is dumb.

[veeten]

It is better suited in Sports Prototype and GT racing, which have events that are from 3+ hours to 6-24 hours, long enough to get the benifits from the technology. In F1, it is more of a gimick rather than being useful, and has caused more headaches.

The main reason that Brawn, Williams, and Toyota have done better this season is that they did not make KERS central to the overall design of their cars but an afterthought, easily removed without upsetting the overall design. Ferrari, McLaren and BMW went the opposite, much to their chagrin at present.

As a character in a Animae movie once said, " Never put some new-fangled bits in a maching until you are totally convinced they are an improvement".

I wasn't.