Red Bull, it’s the story of an ERS
Adrian Newey discussed during an interview about the KERS of Red Bull and the difficulties it poses to the Austrian team.
Achilles’ heel of the RB7 for some, cirrocumulus in a blue sky for others, the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) of Red Bull is certainly a topic of discussion. Struggling with this mechanism since the beginning of the season, the team is nevertheless setting a great pace, being well ahead in both the constructors’ championship and the drivers’ championship.
Adrian Newey, the designer of the car driven by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, does not hide the difficulties encountered with this complicated project that requires a lot of research and development. As a reminder, the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) is a braking system that allows energy generated during deceleration to be recovered and stored so that it can be reused in the form of an 80 horsepower power boost, which is limited to about 6 seconds per lap. It was first introduced in Formula 1 in 2009, then abandoned before being reinstated for this 2011 season.
A formidable weapon from the start, as demonstrated by Renault or Ferrari since the beginning of the season, the KERS is as useful in the race for offensive phases, allowing overtaking, as it is in defensive phases, for defending a position (even if the possibility of a combined use of KERS and the adjustable rear wing by an attacker makes any defensive maneuver illusory in certain areas of the tracks).
For the technical director of the Austrian firm, the problem mainly comes from the design of their car: it indeed requires the system provided by Renault to undergo significant adaptation in terms of shape to match the design of the RB7, which would result in operational issues « difficult to completely eliminate ». And even if at Red Bull « they think they have figured out how to proceed », the challenge remains significant.
Faced with this observation, Adrian Newey argues for a differentiated development strategy: “We are more of an engineering group focused on aerodynamics and chassis. Developing the KERS is not really one of our strengths.” Looking back, he admits that the department at the Milton Keynes factory dedicated to this system is “too small,” preventing it from “reacting quickly to the problems posed.”
The fact remains that this blemish on the record is far from causing concern for the red bull whose triumphant march towards the two titles does not seem hindered for the moment by this minor issue.
