KERS

Of all the major changes to the regs for the 2009 season, KERS arguably presents the most significant challenge. It is uncharted territory for all, and the relative openness of the rules allow for a degree of innovation that hasn't been seen for many years.

One of the biggest challenges with KERS today is cost. In a time when major emphasis is being placed on cost cutting in F1, developing these systems is becoming an increasing portion of the budget even for the largest teams. Red Bull scrapped their system long ago for the one used by engine partner Renault due to cost reasons. And Williams has delayed the introduction of their system until the seventh race of the season at the earliest.

Equally challenging is the technical part and the safety aspect that goes along with it. At the Red Bull factory a fire broke out when a high voltage battery failed during testing, and a BMW mechanic was shocked when he touched the body of the F1.08B in early pre-season testing. These issues have most likely all been resolved, but you can still see the cautionary stickers on most cars.

Many teams (especially Ferrari) had said that they were behind schedule and may or may not use the system in Melbourne, although we are starting to hear less about this as time marches on, the aforementioned Williams team excepted. However, even with KERS functioning reliably, there are still trade-offs with weight and performance and it may or may not make sense depending on the circuit. Even though the car and driver have a combined minimum weight, the 30kg or so the system weighs means that there is that much less ballast to move in the car, which in turn affects weight distribution. Endless computer simulations will be run to improve lap times by valuable tenths of a second. As development progresses KERS will likely be seen in all cars at all tracks, but it will be exciting to see how the drama unfolds. That's what F1 is all about, right?