HRT & Virgin to not use KERS

[Duke]

At the moment Williams are the only one of our customers who are going to be using KERS in 2011. Virgin and HRT are not. Both those teams have expressed an interest in KERS for 2012.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2010/12/21/virgin-and-hrt-not-using-kers-in-2011/

Well HRT was a given, but a little surprised about Virgin.

 

[godinman]

How long can they use this during a race? This could make a huge gap in lap times...

 

[rpstewart]

How long can they use this during a race? This could make a huge gap in lap times...

The regs state a 300kJ maximum stored capacity although 400kJ can be used per lap. The maximum charge/discharge rate is set at 60kW.

So if my dodgy maths is correct that's 5 seconds from a fully charged KERS and up to 6.67s per lap if there is an equivalent amount of braking time to charge the system back up again (assuming of course the braking is hard enough to generate 60kW of recharge energy).

HRT must be worried about weight if they're not going with KERS. Given that they're using the Williams gearbox next year it seems odd not to take their KERS as well - unless Frank's decided not to sell it...