Shocking News // Formula One To Delay KERS?

Formula One is the base for many automotive achievements. Teams with no salary caps, enough engineers and scientists to launch a moon mission and an ever growing demand to optimize and improve, allowing drivers to withstand more and cars to go that much faster. Enter KERS. Short for Kinetic Energy Recovery System, KERS represents both the future of F1 as well as the future of our own motoring, and is slated for introduction during the 2009 season. Essentially trapping, storing and reusing energy produced at the flywheel, similar to a hydroelectric dam, KERS will produce an additional 80bhp over the course of six and a half seconds. This is all sounding great, however, the current F1 teams are having a bit of trouble with it. Smoke and fumes rose from the inner quarters of UK based Red Bull, a BMW-Sauber mechanic was nearly shocked to death, lets just say KERS is a long way from race ready. So here is the dilemma. The FIA has scheduled the KERS introduction for the ‘09 season, yet there is not a single team ready, none with a fully functional prototype and certainly none ready to compete. Toyota engine boss Luca Marmorini was quoted as saying, “All teams are having problems at the moment. Building a safe system is proving a difficult thing. For 2009, time is running out. To me, it would be more logical to test it for a year before we use it at the races. For us at Toyota, safety has the highest priority.” Similar comments are reverberating throughout the Formula One ranks and all are equally concerned for driver safety as well as usability. Will KERS make its debut in 2009, or will the FIA push the deadline back? More when we know more // 07.24.2008