Renault first to commit to KERS for Sunday's F1 race
Click above for a high-res image gallery of the Renault R29
Formula 1 teams are split on whether or not to use the controversial kinetic energy recovery hybrid technology at the beginning of the 2009 season. So far, Renault is the only team that has committed to using its KERS implementation for Sunday's race in Australia, which is the first of the season. Pat Symonds, the team's engineering head, said, "We believe obviously that it's a positive performance advantage otherwise we wouldn't be running it," adding that it's been working without issue since around Christmas of last year.
Ferrari, McLaren and BMW are thought to be ready to go with their own KERS systems as well, but none of these three teams has publicly said they will begin the season with functional implementations. Toyota, Williams, Red Bull and Force India are less likely to use the hybrid tech. According to Ross Brawn, who took management of the ex-Honda team, "With the time we have had available, quite frankly, we have not considered KERS." With Brawn's team performing very well in pre-race testing, Sunday's race should prove to be very interesting.
Gallery: 2009 Renault R29 F1
[Source: World Car Fans]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
@macdonmt 5:15PM (3/19/2009)
Am I the only one expecting the Melbourne round to be March 29th... next Sunday?
There's always Sebring this weekend, with an epic Audi v. Peugeot v. Acura battle.
Get Excited.
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Bill 6:32PM (3/19/2009)
I'm expecting the race on March 28th...
11:00 pm PDT race start that is! I can't wait!
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