F1 » Theissen hits back at KERS critics

Probably because BMW have got it to work quite well whereas Ferrari and others haven''t. Obviously, BMW will want to use it if they think it gives them an advantage. Looks like KERS will stay, so the other teams had better pull their fingers out.

If that is the case..
Why dont the FIA do the same with what they have done with the ECU's and commission a company to make a KERS for every team as standard?
At least then it would be tried and tested and they know it would work.

KERS will make overtaking easier i.e. boring F1 racing more exciting!

the competition in developing the KERS system is what will drive on the development of such recovery systems, and will eventually filter down to road car use. The idea of standardisation is to reduce the expenditure of a unit which has been all but maximised (and doesn't add to the "show"), ie the ECU system. By introducing KERS, to facilitate development, then making it a standard fit unit, it defeats the purpose entirely.

ferret, when you were missing, the fia stated that there would be a standardised kers from 2010. this makes all the current kers developement by individual team, a complete waste. haug said that one quarter of their budget was taken up by it. fia were rather stupid, not to shelve it in 2009, especially as they say they want to REDUCE costs. i guess that bmw have basically completed their system and just want other teams to waste their money.

@R6ex, how will KERS make racing more exciting? The driver wanting to overtake hits his KERS button for the boost. The driver defending sees this and hits his KERS button to fend off the first driver. Sounds pretty status quo to me. It will only facilitate overtaking if the driver in front doesn't have KERS, or has a weaker iteration of KERS than the driver behind. That's all to do with technology and nothing to do with driver skill. Anyway, I thought KERS was just so that F1 could appear green.

As for KERS filtering down into road cars, I read somewhere that the KERS spec for F1 is actually not as good as some KERS systems already in road cars. How is this a step forward?

Rich ard, I kind of agree with you, but I think it goes further. Not just spending the money but diverting vital resources away from other areas of development.

As for reducing costs, any new thing, or change inevitably costs money, so if the FIA wanted to cut costs, then they should just freeze the current rules.

rich ard: The FIA have never said KERS would be standard from 2010. This was a FOTA suggestion.

Calvin: You have a very simplistic view of racing. There will be a lot of bluff: the full 80bhp can only be used for 6 seconds per lap. You are also wrong about KERS for road cars - see Theissen's interviews on the subject.

KERS is by far the most interesting and road-relevant technology for F1 in 2009. It's just a shame that Ferrari and 3 other teams hired Magnetti Marelli to develop a system instead of working in-house like Williams (novel and electro-mechanical, apparently).

Meanwhile the intellectually lazy F1 teams are paying for all the R&D Mag. M. need for their road car programme.

observer, the fia issued a statement about two weeks ago, stating that a standardised kers system would be introduced. this was in agreement with fota. fota may have suggested it, but it seems to be fait accomplait!
calvin is basically correct in what he says. there is no total usage as per other push to pass systems, so if someone is trying to pass, then automatically the person in front will use the boost to prevent this! common sense.
there is also the inherrent dangers of the system, to both driver and marshals, not to mention the specialists required to dispose of the toxic materials, batteries etc.
the system for racing bears no relationship to road car systems.

I still havent decided whether KERS is a good idea or not, dont think i will until ive seen it in action.
So Ferrari are delaying their KERS debut, itll be interesting to see the effect, if any, in comparison to a car that is using it.
Does anybody know exactly which teams will be using the system this season and when?