Red Bull and Mercedes both “embrace” KERS for the 2011 Formula 1 season
Both Red Bull Racing Team and Mercedes (which was known as “Brawn GP” before) did not use KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) in 2009, the year the device was introduced. However, that didn't affect their performance, in fact, both became the best two
teams of the 2009 Formula 1 season. However, it seems that both of the teams have now realized that they need to “embrace” this technology in order to survive in the Formula 1 world.
KERS is a device that converts heat energy and stores it in the form of Kinetic energy which can be used whenever a driver wants to use it. In simple terms; it is a sort of a “boost” after a specific amount of energy has been stored in the device.
It is quite obvious that KERS will ensure that the drivers get the best possible start-line at races and almost all of the teams are using this device except the three new teams; Team Lotus, Virgin Racing Team and Hispania Racing Team (HRT).
Since the FIA increased the minimum weight limit of a car to 20kgs for the 2011 Formula 1 season, there is no reason why a team should not use this device and benefit from its advantages.
Adrian Newey believes that it is going to be very difficult for any team to survive without KERS in 2011.
“This year we'll have McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all using KERS and all being, I'm sure, extremely competitive. If for no other reason, we need to get it to work simply for performance off the line,” he said.
According to Adrian, Red Bull’s new car RB7 has been specially designed to accommodate KERS and enable it to perform at its best even though the device creates a lot of problems for the teams and it is not possible to find a solution for all of those problems.
“It is a challenge with KERS, obviously the big challenge there is to try to come up with a solution that does not compromise the aerodynamics too much, otherwise you've lost performance before you've gained the benefit of putting KERS on,” Newey added.
Ross Brawn echoed Adrian’s comments as he also believes that using KERS for the 2011 Formula 1 season will help the drivers at the start of the race.
He believes that it is about time that Team Mercedes starts to use KERS and the device is going to help the team pull out the best of their new machine at certain parts of every track.
KERS is definitely going to be one of the key elements of the 2011 Formula 1 season and according to experts, the team that gets the best out of KERS will have the upper hand throughout the season.
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