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[scotty]

Haug: Teams may rethink KERS now

By Jonathan Noble Tuesday, July 28th 2009, 10:11 GMT

Lewis Hamilton's victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix could force a rethink in Formula 1 about the use of KERS, now it appears that the hybrid technology is making a big difference in races.

That is the view of Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug, who thinks the way that Hamilton's triumph was helped by his KERS allowing him to move up the field may show rivals that they cannot now do without the system now.

McLaren and Ferrari are currently the only teams running KERS, with BMW Sauber and Renault having dropped their systems earlier on in the year.

Haug thinks that KERS' reputation is fast being enhanced, and it may come to a point where other teams can no longer afford not to run it if they are to have a chance of victory.

"I think it is now a different story," he explained. "If KERS helps you to win then it is mentioned. Before it was probably said that the little boys use KERS and the others do not, but I think it is different now. Maybe we will see teams changing to KERS even during this season."

F1 teams have currently agreed to abandon KERS next year, because of the huge development costs, but Haug thinks that even that decision may now be reconsidered - as he hinted at a standard system perhaps being the best way forward.

"Well, if it comes to a KERS competition this will be expensive," he said. "I should be the KERS promoter, but we definitely follow the majority verdict of FOTA. So we will see.

"But I think maybe it is a discussion for later this year about whether a team uses KERS or not, because it is just very convincing. And the Mercedes-Benz hybrid system is the best one, as we showed in Hungary."

[Hexagram]

Still think it should go, its an extra uncessarssary expense in F1 when the team are suppose to be cutting back.

[Jamie]

Ridiculous, but it has put a beautiful spin on this years title.

[headless]

It is good for McLaren becuase they have been the only team to make it work well, but it is an annoyance to anyone who wants to see overtaking on a McLaren, because nobody can get past because of KERS.

[McLaren Fan]

A few of the reasons why KERS has been a lame duck are because: i) it was not made mandatory; ii) there were too many restrictions placed on it; and iii) it was not used in conjunction with other "green" measures. I like the idea of KERS and I want to see the problems surrounding it fixed, but, if not, then there's not a great deal of point in having it.

[Gilles 27]

My main bugbear with KERS is that it is neither green, low on costs or safe, thereby negating all three of the FIA's main agendas

[Gaz]

I think this is a little bit of Merc having the best kers + wanting to promote it in their road cars.

i thought they'd try and do this if they won.

Personaly i'd like to see it make compuslory and then less regulated restricted only by the storage mediums constraints. However with alot of teams stopping development now i can't see it being turned around by FOTA

[Frosty]

They should of made the development of KERS unrestricted.

[7UpJordan]

KERS will make a difference in races where car balance isn't an issue, but good turn-in and traction are key. Valenci-yawn is up next and there are no fast sweeping corners.

I would like to see Williams introduce their flywheel soon and at the very least put it on Nakajima's car to give him a better chance of getting some points, and then if it does fail, no big loss compared to if it was on Rosberg's car.

[Gilles 27]

I can't imagine that there are many tracks where balance and turn-in aren't an issue. The success of the Ferraris and McLarens of late has been largely to do with getting round the problems posed by using KERS more successfully than they had been doing at the start of the season. They still have fundamentally slower cars than the Red Bulls but are able to launch into elevated positions of the start.

As for Valencia, the last sector is mostly made up of fast corners that aren't particularly long but balance and particularly turn-in are crucial.

[Rivelution]

I can't imagine that there are many tracks where balance and turn-in aren't an issue. The success of the Ferraris and McLarens of late has been largely to do with getting round the problems posed by using KERS more successfully than they had been doing at the start of the season. They still have fundamentally slower cars than the Red Bulls but are able to launch into elevated positions of the start.

Agreed. Welcome back btw

[NateDawg80126]

My main bugbear with KERS is that it is neither green, low on costs or safe, thereby negating all three of the FIA's main agendas

Well said.

[Gilles 27]

I can't imagine that there are many tracks where balance and turn-in aren't an issue. The success of the Ferraris and McLarens of late has been largely to do with getting round the problems posed by using KERS more successfully than they had been doing at the start of the season. They still have fundamentally slower cars than the Red Bulls but are able to launch into elevated positions of the start.

Agreed. Welcome back btw

Cheers!

[f1usa]

My main bugbear with KERS is that it is neither green, low on costs or safe, thereby negating all three of the FIA's main agendas

Well said.

I rank KERS right up there with Clean Coal.

[kerc]

My main bugbear with KERS is that it is neither green, low on costs or safe, thereby negating all three of the FIA's main agendas

Well said.

I rank KERS right up there with Clean Coal.