F1 » BMW suspends testing after KERS scare

"Blue wire goes here, brown wire here, no...here. Oh wait a minute..."

I wonder how safe are the road cars implementing energy recovery system.

On a separate note - KERS is another example of how whims of Spankie Max ends up teams spending more rather than saving monies. When McLaren had introduced similar solution in 90''s Spankie had turned cold shoulder on that. Spankie and his fetishes.....

there have been a number of problems with this system and the dangers of the lithium in the batteries is a problem in a crash. the batteries must run at a very high voltage if they can cause electrical injuries to a mechanic. does anyone know what voltages are involved?? what with fires, shocks etc, is the kers system really safe to be used in a racing car, or will the idea be scrapped?

irn bru..........now I know its not a laughing matter but your post did make me snigger

There are some very serious issues here. I don't think its the voltage, more likely the current is high (and its current that kills you - static can hit 10,000V easily without causing more than a minor muscle spasm). We've all seen the grounding strips on pit boxes to earth away any static built up by the car moving around on the circuit and prevent a spark igniting vapour during refuelling. If there is sufficient current to arc to a mechanic from the (carbon) bodywork, then refuelling becomes a timebomb. On a road car the body usually acts as the earth return for batteries, but an F1 car can't do that.

Yet more half-baked initiatives from the FIA. Lets stick to good racing, shall we?

thanks robsy, i have been hit by shocks from spark plug leads in the past, and have survived. i get mixed up with amps,watts and volts, yet i know that mains 220v can kill. your refuelling comments must strike fear in everyone, so when will be the first catastrophe? it seems that using this system would allow an increase of 80BHP for up to 6 secs, similar to "push to pass". so if it works, we might see some passing at last!

Blimey, I know that the FIA is trying to cut the number of team personel, but this is going too far...

Why can't an F1 car use the body as a return to ground? Carbon fiber is a pretty decent conductor....

Forget this green stuff. F1 should be about burning as much Hydro-Carbon''s as possible in the shortest period of time?????????

Most teams have already objected to the concept of KERS.

And only 2 teams, including BMW have even bothered to make prototype models of the system. Just shows how confident the teams are that Max's latest rubbish idea to make racing better will actually be put into the regulations.