BMW scraps KERS
20 June 2009
BMW Sauber has announced that it has ended development of its Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) permanently and with immediate effect. The Germany manufacturer, which has invested considerable sums during the process, believes that more positive results can be achieved by following the hybrid technology route as opposed to KERS, which it had previously strongly supported.
After pushing for the device to be used in Formula One, BMW brought an official end to its use of KERS at Silverstone on Saturday evening. Having used the device between Australia and Bahrain this season, the squad discovered that the weight of the device can, at times, result in more of a performance disadvantage than display its plus points of an added 80 horsepower for 6.6 seconds a lap.
We evaluated different options: proceeding with KERS or proceeding on the aero side," explained BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen, who described how an increase in pace as a result of aerodynamic devices aided the decision to remove KERS from future plans: "We have made some significant progress on the aero side which does not allow to fit KERS and we took a decision, just a few days ago, to no longer run KERS this year."
Ironically, the British Grand Prix will feature the least number of cars running with KERS this season, with only Ferrari using the device as McLaren experiments without it. Theissen, however, explained that commitment to develop such a part is paramount in order to achieve maximum results. "If you want to push an innovation, you have to fully focus on it," he continued.
"I would say that, if it isn't made mandatory, it will disappear - that is just natural; it is a pity, in my view, because this has been a unique chance to really position F1 as a technology carrier, as a pioneer of innovative technology, and it would have been very good in the current economic climate for F1 as a whole."