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[scotty]

Red Bull Racing is considering introducing KERS from the Belgian Grand Prix in a bid to boost its world championship ambitions, AUTOSPORT can reveal.

With the Milton Keynes-based outfit locked in a close fight with Brawn GP for the title, the team is now undergoing a detailed investigation into whether fast-tracking KERS onto the car for next weekend's race at Spa-Francorchamps will give it an advantage.

Although earlier this season it appeared that F1 was shying away from KERS, the role the regenerative energy devices played in Lewis Hamilton's recent Hungarian GP victory has forced a rethink.

And Red Bull's team principal Christian Horner has confirmed to AUTOSPORT that a decision will be made in the next few days about what to do for Spa - where KERS is expected to produce a considerable benefit.

"We continue to evaluate KERS on an ongoing basis," he explained. "Obviously KERS' performance at the last race and probably here are making an obvious benefit, so it is something we have not abandoned for this year.

"We have the system there and are evaluating the system on a race-by-race basis."

When asked what the chances were of Red Bull giving KERS the green light for a shock introduction in Belgium, Horner said: "We will evaluate it after this weekend."

AUTOSPORT understands that Red Bull Racing is the only team that is transporting its cars back to its factory in between the European Grand Prix and Belgium next weekend.

Should Red Bull Racing give the green light to KERS then it could swing the world championship momentum in its favour – as Brawn GP has ruled out being able to run the technology this year.

Team principal Ross Brawn told AUTOSPORT: "Due to the modifications we had to do to the car to fit the engine, we piled a lot of weight into it and we do not have the weight capacity to run KERS. So unfortunately it is not an option for us."

When asked how decisive the KERS factor could be, especially with tracks like Spa and Monza coming up on the calendar, he said: "If it catches fire it could be completely bad for them. It is quite a challenge to introduce it in the middle of the season with no testing."

Interesting, i had no idea they were even bothering to develop a system...

[7UpJordan]

I remember last year they were having some big problems developing it, particularly when they had a small fire at their factory.

[Denthúl]

I thought the same thing in the chat today. Last I heard of it, it was setting on fire in their factory before the season began. It should be interesting to see how they perform with it.

[7UpJordan]

And when they put the KERS on, will it unbalance the car? This will be very important because car balance through the long, fast corners at Spa is crucial.

[EwanM]

Ej's gonna have a fit over this.

[scotty]

And when they put the KERS on, will it unbalance the car? This will be very important because car balance through the long, fast corners at Spa is crucial.

But if the system is at a decent standard, i'd have thought the extra power down some of those long, long straights would be worth it. Thinking about it, they may just wait until Monza rather than rushing things.

I wonder how much the decision not to scrap it totally for next year has influenced the apparent u-turn by a couple of teams over KERS, or whether it is all just down to the blatant benefit it's bringing McLaren?

[Denthúl]

And when they put the KERS on, will it unbalance the car? This will be very important because car balance through the long, fast corners at Spa is crucial.

But if the system is at a decent standard, i'd have thought the extra power down some of those long, long straights would be worth it. Thinking about it, they may just wait until Monza rather than rushing things.

Indeed. Wouldn't want to unbalance the car on one of the most aerodynamically-demanding tracks on the calendar.

[7UpJordan]

And when they put the KERS on, will it unbalance the car? This will be very important because car balance through the long, fast corners at Spa is crucial.

But if the system is at a decent standard, i'd have thought the extra power down some of those long, long straights would be worth it. Thinking about it, they may just wait until Monza rather than rushing things.

I think practice will be the deciding factor on whether to use it in the race at Spa. They could run Vettel's car with KERS and Webber's without it. If they decide afterwards to not use it during the race, that's fair do's because then they will have at least put some miles on it, so maybe Monza is indeed a more suitable race to introduce it at.

[Gaz]

Ej's gonna have a fit over this.

[Frosty]

I would be amazed if they can get KERS in and get the balance right straight away. McLaren have had to pretty much redesign the car to get the balance right including the latest step of shortening the wheelbase.

[scotty]

I would be amazed if they can get KERS in and get the balance right straight away. McLaren have had to pretty much redesign the car to get the balance right including the latest step of shortening the wheelbase.

That's what i was thinking, especially as the whole car has been designed without the system so far... although they have the best man for the job if they need to undertake a major re-design!

[myownalias]

This isn't surprising news to me especially with McLaren and Ferrari KERS devices coming into their own, tight and twisty tracks probably have the most benefit to KERS enabled cars as they can use the boost out of corners to get upto speed faster. Will it be so useful at long sweeping tracks like Spa I don't know, it'll give the enabled teams a boost out of la source and maybe the exit of the bus-top but not so sure about the rest of the track. Anyone still think that KERS will be banned next season now that it's coming to maturity and Williams likely to be running KERS next year as the FIA haven't banned the KERS device. Maybe it'll come as part of an engine package from Mercedes and Ferrari next season?

[cap-dude]

I suppose its still easy enough to just fit the Renault KERS system at Spa. But Spa is next week, they haven't exactly got time on their side.

But anyways, no doubt it could be beneficial at Spa and Monza. Off the line mainly. I mean, if Red Bull want this championship, which they clearly do. They need to take every opportunity they can. I say, its worth just trying KERS with one car during practice, and then compare the data to see if its worth using.

I mean, how much has Vettel lost out to KERS this year. Bahrain, Barcelona, and Hungary. All nightmares because KERS was used to make a jump at the start, which in turn ruined Vettel's race. Red Bull could easily reverse this situation, and become the ones making the rapid starts. Thus getting ahead of Brawn at tracks where Brawn are actually stronger. Its certainly an interesting idea that's at least worth a try.

[The Oz]

This can go 2 ways for Red Bull if they use it.

1. Screw their championship hopes in one weekend
2. Blitz the field and go 1-2 for the next couple GP's and win the World Championship (which i hope happens)

[ivey]

belgium is not a good place for KERS IN MY OPINION. but u know imnot martin brundle maybe rbr knows. im worried bout mclaren at belgium, theire good at slow corners