KERS: How it is employed in Formula 1

Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing sits in his car with the KERS warning shown.

Use of KERS in F1 is of recent origin. It was used for the first time on race weekends by the teams Ferrari, BMW (now Sauber), McLaren and Renault (now Lotus) during the 2009 season. It was not used in 2010, due to an agreement among the teams. But it returned in 2011 and is in use since.

KERS was initiated in F1 as it was an environment friendly and road-relevant technology and also helped in overtaking. In the current F1 cars, KERS can help a driver to go about 0.4 seconds faster per lap. It is beneficial during the qualifying lap, where faster times can be set. Also, during a race, where even a small advantage can be crucial, a car with KERS charged battery, can apply more power than others, and aid in faster overtaking. They can also use it to fend off DRS overtaking from opponents. During a lap, it can be used for 6.67 seconds; this can be used fully at a time or at different points on the circuit according to convenience of the driver.

KERS is the acronym for Kinetic Energy Recovery System. There are two types of systems for KERS – Battery system and Flywheel system. The battery system is used most frequently by the teams, with the flywheel system developed but not used by Williams. Under the battery system, the kinetic energy generated from the engine while breaking, is directed to an MGU (Motor Generator Unit), which converts this energy into electricity and transfers it to a battery. Now when a driver presses the KERS button, then this electricity goes back through the MGU and arrives back to the engine, giving it extra power. This system provides about 80 bhp of extra power. Due to the frequent use of the system, it gets overheated, for which radiators are used on the side pods of the car to cool down the batteries.

For better understanding of the system, the following video can be referred to

The system has not been without defects. Several times, KERS system gets overheated, due to which it stops functioning. The use of this system affects braking, because of which there have been instances of driver errors while breaking. Also, this technology requires extra investment from the teams. In the past there have been several instances of KERS failure or problem, which has compromised the race of several drivers. Generally cars are kept lighter than the optimum weight necessary according to the rules, and for the extra weight, ballast is used to get the required weight distribution by the teams. When KERS is used, the cars become heavier and ballast cannot be utilized to get the advantage of weight distribution.

With the radical rule changes taking place next year, KERS is also set to be modified. From 2014 onwards, this system will be known as ERS. It will be twice as powerful compared to the current system and will be capable of releasing energy for 34 seconds during a lap. Under this new technology, two devices will be utilized. One of which will be similar to the MGU system used under KERS and another MGU, which will harness energy from the turbocharger.

KERS has aided the drivers by increasing the speed of their car and it has also helped them in overtaking maneuvers. Though this system has failed at times, but the benefit which it has given both on and off the track cannot be undermined. With modification being made to this technology in the form of ERS, the future of this technology looks bright.