The political KERS football

[teabagyokel]

BBC - KERS makes 2011 return?

So the political football of KERS is back onto the pitch. And the issue is really like Barça vs Inter last night, the FIA's usually dominant attack is pushing and pushing for KERS, but FOTA will not let them through.

The only difference is that for the FIA, unlike Barça, one goal will be enough. McLaren, Ferrari, Williams and Renault [the old 'big 4'] should have a vested interest in getting KERS on the cars for next season. All 4 teams have invested a lot of money in the system.

It is interesting that Renault have offered to supply the system to all. Is it a sign that Renault's concentration on their chassis will dwindle with Genii taking control, hence allowing them to continue as a engine/KERS supplier? I hope so, for I am uninterested in continuing talk about Renault's future.

Congratulations Inter, but I don't think backs-to-the-wall will win the day in this battle!

 

[Brogan]

The whole KERS farce has really annoyed me.

First it was optional and some teams went ahead and developed it.
One team much more successfully than the rest it has to be said.

Then it was dropped, presumably because FOTA as a group went with the lowest common denominator.

Now it's back again and there are talks of having a single supplier as well as external suppliers and in-house developed systems.

If it doesn't go ahead then Williams have just wasted a lot of money as they are now the majority shareholder in Williams Hybrid Power.

With all this talk of KERS, 18" rims, 1.5L twin turbo engines and the like, F1 as it is today is going to be completely unrecognisable in 2 years.

 

[cider_and_toast]

With all this talk of KERS, 18" rims, 1.5L twin turbo engines and the like, F1 as it is today is going to be completely unrecognisable in 2 years.

And just how much more is going to be spent to introduce all these changes?

Cost cutting my

 

[Enja]

FIA's dominant attack? What, you mean the dominant FIA attack using oh, er, the teams themselves?

Did I read the same article as you? It doesn't seem like it!

A major block in a lot of FOTA's desires were Williams, but now they want in, because they've seen that Ferrari and Renault are offering their own supply of KERS units to teams for a pretty reasonable price, it seems. The only sticking point seems to be that the current regulations don't allow for a big enough amount of energy to be stored, but that will be out of the way if the teams agree to it, since the FIA would probably be quite happy with that result.

If it doesn't go ahead then Williams have just wasted a lot of money as they are now the majority shareholder in Williams Hybrid Power.

Not really, since their development in that area is further reaching and intended than F1. Aren't they already implementing systems within public transport?

With all this talk of KERS, 18" rims, 1.5L twin turbo engines and the like, F1 as it is today is going to be completely unrecognisable in 2 years.

I don't see the problem with that. F1 has been up until fairly recently a rapidly developing sport and if that's the direction things are going, that's the way it's going. It will be a different era from what we are used to, sure, but it's a step somewhere, I'm not sure if it's forward, or backward, but it's a step. F1 has been in a stale state for quite a while now, particularly with the move to the V8s in '06 starting that trend as well as the decision to go to the control tyre, although I'm not entirely convinced a tyre war is what F1 needs, but I'd be open to it.

Last year I was quite a big fan of KERS and the nature of haves and have-nots, it created very interesting balances between having a car that was any good or one that accelerated a lot better, particularly off the line. I'm almost universally in favour of more horsepower in today's F1 cars and although the interesting aspect of a KERS car off the line against a non-KERS car may leave, I'd be happy to see relatively cheap KERS units in all cars. It could potentially introduce a new reliability factor and another area for development, although a lot of fans will argue endlessly that F1 needs to cut costs and what have you, which is not an idea I particularly subscribe to.

Personally I'm all too happy to have a shake-up in the 'basics' areas of F1 such as the engine and the tyres, it has been coming a while now and I'm actually quite excited by the idea of a radical departure from the current formula.

 

[teabagyokel]

FIA's dominant attack? What, you mean the dominant FIA attack using oh, er, the teams themselves?

Did I read the same article as you? It doesn't seem like it!

I was attempting to tie it in to the football. And failed! But it is true that the FIA are desparate to push this...

 

[Enja]

By "FIA" do you mean "FOTA"..?

Because, sure, the FIA would like it, but FOTA are now saying, "hey, you know what, we can do this on the cheap. Let's do it!", so I would say that FOTA are the ones instigating it.

 

[Galahad]

I have to say I agree with Enja, for me this is a step in the right direction (and perhaps a move away from the mania for standardisation of parts?)

Everyone would probably have KERS now if it weren't for the economic situation. So the implementation hasn't worked as well as anyone would have hoped, but in principle it's good for the racing, good for technology and good for F1's green credentials (lowest priority but still). They've invested all the money in developing these systems, it would be a shame for them to become museum pieces.

 

[teabagyokel]

By "FIA" do you mean "FOTA"..?

Because, sure, the FIA would like it, but FOTA are now saying, "hey, you know what, we can do this on the cheap. Let's do it!", so I would say that FOTA are the ones instigating it.

You're probably right, I tend to pay more attention to the racing...

Sometimes I have an urge to post a topic though...