Should KERS be put back to 2010? (Poll)
Ferrari wants the introduction of KERS put back from 2009 to 2010
BMW is under pressure to abandon its opposition to a delay on the introduction of Kinetic Energy Reduction Systems (KERS).
Luca di Montezemolo, Flavio Briatore and John Howett representing Ferrari, Renault and Toyota have all spoken in favour of postponing the introduction of KERS until 2010.
Should KERS be postponed to 2010?
- Yes (35%)
- No (59%)
- No opinion (6%)
Total Voters: 927
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The teams that are opposing the introduction of KERS say it is an unnecessary expense at a time when teams should be reducing costs. Toyota has suggested the development cost for KERS in its first year of use is as much as developing an engine. And few people need convincing of the need to reduce costs at a time when F1 faces starting 2009 with only 18 cars on the grid.
When the Formula 1 Teams Association came to its first agreement on cost reduction with Max Mosley once of the key concessions it obtained was that a standard KERS could be used by all the teams in 2010 – eliminating the cost of developing them.
But BMW’s Mario Theissen claims the bulk of the development costs have already been met, so postponing KERS now would waste money that has been spent.
I come down on BMW’s side of the argument – and not just for the reason Theissen has cited. F1 has built up a great deal of expectation around its decision to ‘go green’. Back-tracking on that promise would send out a terrible message. Ferrari, Toyota and Renault fail to grasp this in their desire to prevent BMW gaining a competitive advantage over them.
What’s your view?
More on KERS and costs
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- FIA-FOTA agreement: Teams’ proposals accepted as Mosley backs down on KERS
Image (C) Ferrari spa
Loki said on 22nd January 2009, 13:43
A couple of years ago, yes.
Not now when investments already been made and postponing it would mean a great deal of resources wasted.
Amarjit Singh said on 22nd January 2009, 14:14
Considering the number of changes introduced for 2009, it was always going to be a better idea to introduce KERS in 2010.
MarkS said on 22nd January 2009, 14:41
F1 has to go forward from where it is. Teams have spent money on KERS, and putting it off won’t recovery that money.
Some teams will have spent lots of KERS, others may have spent their money elsewhere. Why should those who have got it right suddenly lose out.
With hindsight maybe it shouldn’t have been adopted for the 2009 season. But it is too late to stop it fairly now.
Polak said on 22nd January 2009, 17:31
I laugh at the argument that the technology is not ready and needs more development. Who cares? These are not commercial airliners, its F1 and if a KERS system breaks its just going to get better for the next race. I’m glad Theissein is sticking to the plan from 06. All the teams have KERS and have spent money on it. Financially nothing would change in 2010. The only benefit for delaying the technology is more reliability and less unpredictable events in F1.
Its not the idea of KERS tham I’m excited about, but rather the fact that F1 will have some exotic new technology that the teams are free to develop in their unique ways.
beneboy said on 22nd January 2009, 20:29
I agree.
For a long time now F1 has just been about refining the current systems to their absolute limit, KERS is something (almost) new to F1 and it’s one area that the teams have a lot of freedom with.
They’ve already spent money on it and aren’t going to stop spending so why not use it ?
Steven Roy said on 22nd January 2009, 20:41
KERS is a complete and utter waste of time and money that makes no sense whatever in a car with an internal combustion engine. When McLaren wanted to introduce it to F1 to gain a competitive advantage it made sense but to introduce a seriously restricted version that will make little or no difference to the performance of the cars makes no sense.
It is utterly insane that Max believes that recovering energy from brakes makes it road relevant. In an F1 car with frequent stops from 200 mph to 70 mph there is a level of sense in it. On the road however it is ludicrous. Imagine a motorway journey of 2 or 3 hours. You are going to burn fuel hauling a KERS system that is going to recover nothing at the same time your engine has a radiator attached to it to vent heat to the atmosphere.
On an F1 car the brakes run at 1000 degrees. On a road car how hot do your brakes get. Then next time you finish a journey get out of the car and put your hand on the brake disc. Then put it on the radiator, engine block or exhaust manifold. How much sense does it make to recover energy from brakes? None whatsoever. Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to recover engine heat as there is a lot more energy there on the race track and on the road.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 22nd January 2009, 20:48
I’d never thought of it that way before but that makes a lot of sense to me.
Gman said on 23rd January 2009, 3:32
Perhaps a good point for highway drivers, but as Alejandro said, some of us do live in cities and other places where stop-and-go driving is a reality and the brakes get a good deal of use. I’m not saying that such a system could be taken straight from F1 and be made street-ready, but it could play a role in developing a similar system for street cars.
Alejandro said on 22nd January 2009, 20:47
What Loki said
Plus, it feels like one of those high school tests where some people didn’t study and asked for a postponement.
Personally I also like to think that along with new aero/tyres it will help shake up the grid order, even though i’m probably delusional on that bit
EDIT:
@ Steven Roy,
Well some of us live in places called cities, stop n go baby ;)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 23rd January 2009, 12:32
I suppose it then becomes a question of where do people do the most driving – motorways or urban areas?
Melanie said on 23rd January 2009, 0:58
Everyone (including Mclaren) was willing to have KERS delayed for one year, only BMW wanted it this year and now they are not even sure they are going to use it in the first race? It does make Mario Theissen look a bit silly.
It doesn’t make sense to introduce KERS when a standard unit will be introduced next year. It is just more unnecessary cost. The question is, do teams like Williams, Renault or Red Bull really have the money for racing with Kers? (Eventhough the development cost has already been alot, it will also cost money to actually go racing with KERS and too develop it further during the year, only to abandon to whole concept next year). There has been a few murmurs from Toyota’s side that they might leave F1, something like the KERS issue could just make their decision much easier.
There are still concerns about the safety of KERS, and it isn’t really green technology. It is just something that Mosley has decided to dress-up as “green”.
Some people may see this as a confrontation between Ferrari and BMW, but this is not actually the case. Luca di Montezemolo is speaking here as the president of FOTA, not necessarily for Ferrari.
The other worrying factor is that the teams are suppose to stand together in FOTA. If they cant even stand together for this issue how will they face the FIA and Bernie.
Jack said on 23rd January 2009, 2:51
I think KERS is good. F1 needs new technology. It is relevant to road cars (sort of). and it is something that, to my knowledge, no other major racing series has
Gman said on 23rd January 2009, 3:40
Indeed a tough vote. I at first voted “no” because I thought that BMW was being an exception to the norm wand was therefore putitng the FOTA unity in danger- something that I feel is very important these days. However, after reading the article through and then looking at many of your posts, I think that the other teams should go along with the implimentation of KERS for this season.
Someone else said it above- if BMW can develop a working KERS device/system, no reason why Ferrari/McLaren shoult not be able to either.
Aaron Shearer said on 23rd January 2009, 9:43
Ferrari only want’s it put back as they are behind on there KERS system. Why should BMW have to sacrifice all there hard work on developing there KERS System?
Hopefully the KERS system will be at Melbourne in March.
graham228221 said on 23rd January 2009, 10:25
i’d say it shouldn’t be put back.
it’s already too close to the start of the season to start changing things. there’s also an added incentive for teams to develop their system as the best one will presumably be adopted in 2010 should the FIA go down the standardised KERS route.
on a related note, does anyone know if cars will be able to use KERS off the starting line? i’ve looked through the regulations for ’09 and it says nothing about this.
teams are not allowed to charge any KERS devices during a pitstop, but there’s no rule against charging them before the race or during the formation lap (if that’s even possible).
PJA said on 23rd January 2009, 13:05
It wouldn’t be the first time a piece of tech was banned because it gave one team an advantage. If any team thought they had a significantly better KERS they defiantly wouldn’t want it delayed for a year.
With reports that teams are not sure if they will use KERS at the start of the season, and the fact that it will be more effective at some tracks then others, we don’t know yet how big an impact KERS will have on results.
I have read people mention a standard KERS unit from 2010, I don’t know the detail of this, so would someone please explain exactly what the deal is? Is it like the standard engine, teams can use it if they want but they can also use their own KERS unit? Or will every team have to use the standard unit?
dan said on 24th January 2009, 14:59
Im a fan of BMW and i would be gutted if BMW put all that work into kers just to find out that they couldnt use it
Luis USA said on 28th January 2009, 18:46
KERS is a really interesting concept that should be in F1, because F1 is a cutting edge sport that should continue to not only challenge the teams but the drivers as well. Although, I think KERS should be in F1 I think to unveil it with less than a year to develop it is not a smart thing to do. I think the FIA should give at least a year to develop and run a safe KERS.
Alejandro said on 28th January 2009, 20:39
AFAIK teams agreed on KERS since 2006?