F1 2009 Season discussion/development thread

Overlag said:
also why do people think them not using KERS is a bad thing? 40-60kg lighter might well be an advantage. A better balanced car for the whole lap, or a unbalanced car KERS boosted for 7 seconds?
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If I was a driver, I would 100% like to have a KERS unit onboard my car. If I dont, everytime a driver was getting close to me, on a straight, I would feel powerless to defend myself. Psychologically, it wouldnt be good.

If I was in front of a driver who was say 1s/lap faster than me (at the time), as long as I have my KERS with me, which I would be using everytime we hit the straight, I would feel confident that I could defend my position. Without it, you would be taking a massive risk.

What you wouldnt want is to be 1s/lap faster than the car in front. You dont have KERS, but he does. Everytime you hit the straight, you get on his tail, but because he hits the 'boost button', he pulls away from you, leaving you unable to overtake him until the pit stop.

KERS is an absolute must for both defensive AND offensive driving.

I predict that Hamilton in particular will use it a lot and will be the guy to beat as he is a prodigiously fast learner. The rest will catch him up as the season progresses, though by then, it might be too late.

Massa will need as much time as possible to get used to using KERS as he tends to be a slow learner, but finishes the season very strongly, as by that time, he has learnt how to get the most out of his car.
 
Overlag said:
anyone noticed that the ferrari still has barge boards?

also why do people think them not using KERS is a bad thing? 40-60kg lighter might well be an advantage. A better balanced car for the whole lap, or a unbalanced car KERS boosted for 7 seconds?

Sure is going to make the racing close...
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if they are really running without it fitted , then yes 40-60kg is a hell of an advantage.
i cant see it myself, if they not using the system, they would more than likely have to add ballast
 
ShakenNstirred said:
if they are really running without it fitted , then yes 40-60kg is a hell of an advantage.
i cant see it myself, if they not using the system, they would more than likely have to add ballast
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They would have to add ballast. However, they could then position the ballast in the ideal position rather than having a 50kg lump on the gearbox.

I suspect that some teams will run ballast as one race and KERS at others.
 
i always thought car numbers were where u finished in the table, but kovi is number 2, i also would have thought massa would have been 3 and kimi 4. is it up to the teams which driver gets the lead number?
 
You can use it as much as you want, however, it needs to recharge. Not sure how long it takes to recharge (CSI could perhaps tell us). Obviously tests are still being run and we wont know for sure until the season starts.

What you dont want to be doing as a driver is blowing your boost during the slower parts of the lap and come the beginning of the straight, the driver behind you has a full charge of KERS to use against you, on the straight. If he is close, you will DEFINITELY get overtaken.

I honestly cant see any argument against the use of KERS as the advantages heavily outweigh the disadvantages.

As a driver, deciding against the use of KERS (and using ballast instead), would be like turning up to a gun fight, with an empty gun, while your foe turns up with a fully loaded gun. If you take that risk then you really deserve to get beat.

Obviously once the season starts and we see KERS in action we shall get a much better idea of whether or not I am right. I cant wait though. ;)
 
with KERs, I believe the drivers are limited to 2 uses per lap (theres some limit on the amount of energy that can be used per lap).
Also I've heard that enough energy can be recovered from one corner to recharge it, so anything above that needs to be dumped.
 
Stormrider said:
Also I've heard that enough energy can be recovered from one corner to recharge it, so anything above that needs to be dumped.
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But is that a full recharge?
I find it difficult to believe that a single corner/braking can recharge the entire unit with enough energy to provide a meaningful boost, should the driver decide to use it.
 
sunama said:
But is that a full recharge?
I find it difficult to believe that a single corner/braking can recharge the entire unit with enough energy to provide a meaningful boost, should the driver decide to use it.
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From what I've heard, yes. I may have been mis-informed, but the regs are fairly limited in how much energy can be recovered and used. Max has stated the intention of increasing the energy recovery and use in the future, possibly trading it off for engine revs, so having some headroom per lap allows that option.

Quite a few KERS articles link at the bottom of the article here:
http://www.racecar-engineering.com/...82797/kers-in-f1-looking-forward-to-2009.html

edit: actually picked a good direct link there:
In Formula 1 without a drive by wire system the drivers will also have to manage the transition between KERS and normal braking manually. Something that could be quite challenging as the KERS could fill to it maximum capacity halfway through a braking event changing the ‘feel’ of the pedal and its effect of the cars retardation. Some drivers have already commented on this factor following the big post-season test at Barcelona. “It’s a big influence, you have to balance the systems, and I think at the start of the year the drivers will be earning their money.”
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The article on the Bosch system also gives some interesting insight into F1 vs LeMans systems:
http://www.racecar-engineering.com/allarticles/281974/f1-kers-bosch-goes-modular.html
 
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With the amount of kinetic energy that something weighing 600 odd Kg going at 200mph has, recharging fully off 1 or 2 corners braking would be more than possible I would wager.

I'm more interested in how it's going to affect breaking - having the kers recharge kick in will alter the balance of things somewhat.
 
Ferrari pulled out of the 'Honda' engine deal, which is a bit odd.

Merc have stepped in though - linky



edit: Updated opening post with launch info.
 
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Toyota looks ok, not as nice as the Ferrari though!

I am confused about these winglets too. Could it be that they are just pre-season parts to help with testing, perhaps increase airflow to certain part of the car whilst being tested?
 
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