BMW to Ferrari re: KERS: Sorry 'bout your lack of competitiveness
It must take guts to call out Ferrari, considering that the Italian marque has been a dominant force in both road-going supercars and in race-ready hardware. In fact, Ferrari managed to take home the coveted Constructors' Championship last year, ably defeating BMW, which finished in third position for the year. Regardless, BMW has some harsh words for Ferrari regarding the 2009 season and the use of the KERS energy-recovery hybrid drivetrain.
Recall that Ferrari has voiced some concerns over the system, suggesting that they are also testing cars for the '09 system without the KERS system installed - just in case. BMW, though, has called out its Italian competitor, with BMW motor sport director Mario Theissen saying "that argument not only speaks of a lack of competitiveness but also a reluctance to play a role in the bigger picture." Ouch, that hurts.
FIA president Max Mosley is also on BMW's side, arguing, "Could you imagine the great F1 engineers like Chapman or Duckworth saying 'I can't do that because it is too complicated'?" No, we can't, Max. And so we expect KERS to move forward as scheduled for the 2009 F1 season. Let the saga continue on the race track.
[Source: F1 Fanatic - Photo:Mark McArdle / CC 2.0]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nick 3:28PM (12/24/2008)
Great article. I've kind of been following this off and on, it'd be nice if the technology could get proven in F1 racing and then brought to commercial vehicles. I think that for delivery trucks it could work very well.
I can understand where Ferrari is coming from. Once you have a dominant platform, you don't want to go back and start over.
Just a tip about writing. You wrote KERS energy recovery hybrid drivetrain, which is akin to saying Kinetic Energy Recovery System energy recovery hybrid drivetrain...You also wrote 'KERS system', which is like saying Kinetic Energy Recovery System system. Since most people might not know what KERS stands for, I'd write it out fully the first time it appears in the article, and put the abbreviation in parentheses.
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Flea0 8:37AM (12/26/2008)
oh, it's ON.
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Jason 9:49PM (5/17/2009)
Does anyone know if the KERS system uses ultracapacitors?
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