Adrian Newey: Red Bull struggling to get KERS working

Adrian Newey: Red Bull struggling to get KERS workingIt may be two wins out of two races for Sebastian Vettel, giving Red Bull a good early lead in the Constructors’ championship, but things are not 100% perfect at Red Bull.

We know that they didn’t use KERS in Australia, and although they tried to incorporate the power boost in Malaysia, Mark Webber didn’t get to use it at all in Sepang, while winner Vettel was told on the radio midway into the race that he should stop using KERS. Interestingly, the World Champion went on to set a fastest lap once he heard that news, as if to show that he and the RB7 didn’t need any help.

“With Mark we had a problem off the line that meant he could not use it at all, during the race, including the start. He had a problem on the lap to the startline. It was a fresh problem, not a problem we have had before. With Seb, we had a problem that meant we could have continued to run it, but from a safety point of view we thought it best to turn it off and not take any risks,” tech chief Adrian Newey explained.

It’s still an issue that needs to be resolved, especially with the Shanghai circuit coming this weekend, and master designer Newey admits that they’re struggling.

Adrian Newey: Red Bull struggling to get KERS working

“The reality is that it is a system in its infancy. We are not a manufacturer team so we are having to develop KERS ourselves, which has not been our area of expertise in the past. We are also doing it on a limited resource, limited budget and with limited experience, so we are on a rapid learning curve. How long it takes us to get to the top of that learning curve remains to be seen,” Newey said.

McLaren, Ferrari, and the rest of the chasing pack must be hoping that they take as long as possible to get there!

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • bravo on Apr 11, 2011 at 10:53 pm

    all hail Newey!

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  • shawal on Apr 11, 2011 at 11:49 pm

    C’mon red bull, build the X1!, its a good publicity tool for the road shows…

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  • SoMeOnE on Apr 12, 2011 at 3:37 am

    the fact is…the red bull has enough pace to stay ahead of the others even without it…i was astonished with the fact that even with the kers giving about 70 bhp…the ferari’s and others could not even get along side these red bulls on the straights….its even freaky when u consider how fast it will be once they sort this out…. the other guys should really keep on pushing for more pace or this season will be about one team….

    .on another note…im happy to see Renault (i will call them that as i always have) doing rather well..that car ‘s pace has been quite good….it sucks kubica is not around…..im convinced he would be challenging for race leads with the current car…..oh well….

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  • confused on Apr 12, 2011 at 8:17 am

    i still reckon something fishy going on with the red bull this year.. much like last year’s flex wing scheme..

    hey, don’t bash me, i’m seb’s fan and wish him jump to ferrari to replace massa asap.

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  • Being a Red Bull fan, I really hope they can solve KERS issue very soon.

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  • fariz on Apr 12, 2011 at 7:14 pm

    noobs at KERS….

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  • ezracopters on Apr 12, 2011 at 9:32 pm

    being not red bull fan, i wish they stay without kers hahaha.. wow, gotta admit thou, without KERS still no one can catch them.

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  • fuh with out kers still redbull faster then others comp hahaha ilike but batter they fix the kers sooner as some track might not suite or need the kers hahaha (goooooooo redbull ekekekeke nice woooooooo

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