Declaring the use of KERS

[ukaskew]

I was quite surprised today that Red Bull were 'secretly' able to run without KERS.

In 2009 the teams presumably declared this race by race, as the battery graphic would be crossed out for those not using it. As a viewer/spectator, and almost certainly from a safety angle, should it not be made public who is running it or not?

Presumably the safety teams must therefore work on the basis that every team has it...even if they don't...?

[MagnetON]

Originally Posted by ukaskew

I was quite surprised today that Red Bull were 'secretly' able to run without KERS.

They may have declared it to officials beforehand, just not to the public/other teams.

Originally Posted by ukaskew

Presumably the safety teams must therefore work on the basis that every team has it...even if they don't...?

Their protocols would have been to assume they all have anyway.

[Matt.D]

I might be wrong, but I believe the on-screen graphics are derived from information sent from the cars standard ECU, so a KERS unit has to be connected for the battery indicator to appear on TV and for the FIA to monitor what's going on. The fact the Red Bull KERS system appeared to be attached and 'armed' for the whole of quali and race, suggests to me that they had KERS attached, but it was not activated (or was it? )

[newlaprecord]

They declared it for German Television thats for sure, and yes, they are doing a 2009 again, they will ONLY use KERS at circuits with long straights, they said it loud and clear.

I just wonder how come the other teams are so commited to KERS this time around when in 2009 we had races where only 6 cars had the system and the general view was that it only worth putting in your car at certain circuits. Austrialia has one of the shortest main straight, not a particulary high speed circuit either, yet, everyone was commited using it (and most of them had an issue with it at one point or another during the weekend) ... odd.

[kartracer41]

Originally Posted by newlaprecord

They declared it for German Television thats for sure, and yes, they are doing a 2009 again, they will ONLY use KERS at circuits with long straights, they said it loud and clear.

I just wonder how come the other teams are so commited to KERS this time around when in 2009 we had races where only 6 cars had the system and the general view was that it only worth putting in your car at certain circuits. Austrialia has one of the shortest main straight, not a particulary high speed circuit either, yet, everyone was commited using it (and most of them had an issue with it at one point or another during the weekend) ... odd.

I believe the difference between this year and 2009 is that the cars have a higher minimum weight. In 2009, with the weight lower, the advantage of KERs could be seen as a wash, due to the extra weight it required. Now the higher minimum weight is designed to make the extra HP from KERS a guaranteed advantage. Well obviously some found that reliability was still more important than +80 HP bursts.

[strider]

This is as good a time as any for me query the point of KERS. If all the cars have it, it doesn't really act like a 'push to pass' and it seems that if you're Red Bull you don't need it anyway.

Maybe the combination of KERS and DRS serves a useful purpose, but my abiding memory of that from Melbourne will be Sutil's phenomenal spin!

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by strider

This is as good a time as any for me query the point of KERS. If all the cars have it, it doesn't really act like a 'push to pass' and it seems that if you're Red Bull you don't need it anyway.

They didn't need it in Melbourne because of the relatively short run down to the first corner from the start. But in a way they were lucky because Hamilton made a poor start and also baulked his team mate.

They will most definitely need KERS at Sepang!

Originally Posted by strider

Maybe the combination of KERS and DRS serves a useful purpose, but my abiding memory of that from Melbourne will be Sutil's phenomenal spin!

I guess that you can press the button too early......

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by newlaprecord

They declared it for German Television thats for sure, and yes, they are doing a 2009 again, they will ONLY use KERS at circuits with long straights, they said it loud and clear.

I just wonder how come the other teams are so commited to KERS this time around when in 2009 we had races where only 6 cars had the system and the general view was that it only worth putting in your car at certain circuits. Austrialia has one of the shortest main straight, not a particulary high speed circuit either, yet, everyone was commited using it (and most of them had an issue with it at one point or another during the weekend) ... odd.

Other thing to bear in mind is that with limited testing, running at Albert Park would make sense to "race test" the system for each team & identify bugs - and a few of them had problems.

Once they all feel that their system are reliable, they may well choose not to run KERS at some circuits.

[Dead-Eye]

Originally Posted by Tourer

Once they all feel that their system are reliable, they may well choose not to run KERS at some circuits.

I get your point, but "once it's reliable they can take it out again" still sounds odd

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by strider

Maybe the combination of KERS and DRS serves a useful purpose, but my abiding memory of that from Melbourne will be Sutil's phenomenal spin!

there were a couple of pit to radio comments to Alonso reminding him to use his KERS (presumably to make sure he was using it to its fullest each lap and at the right spots).

perhaps its just early in the season but it seems like the drivers have more to consider each lap. for me the knock on effect of all the gadgetry is that drivers have more to contend with, more actions to perform, more to deal with. all this makes the driving more difficult and increases the risk from breaks in concentration.

say what you will about the new new but it puts more control in the hands of a driver and thats the least artificial thing they could be doing.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by kartracer41

I believe the difference between this year and 2009 is that the cars have a higher minimum weight. In 2009, with the weight lower, the advantage of KERs could be seen as a wash, due to the extra weight it required. Now the higher minimum weight is designed to make the extra HP from KERS a guaranteed advantage. Well obviously some found that reliability was still more important than +80 HP bursts.

This year they have also legislated the axle weights that the cars have to run,in a bid to force the teams to take advantage of the magnificent benefits of KERS.
Previously Red Bull were using the KERS weight saving to run ballast which they could position in the car as a tyre tuning device.

KERS is just "a load of old cobblers".