In the season opening Australian Grand Prix, the Austrian team decided not to use the units due to some reliability problems encountered in the Friday practice sessions. Since the nature of the Albert Park track did not demand the use of the power-boosting device, team principal Christian Horner decided to keep the unit out of the RB7 for the Saturday qualifying and Sunday race.
At Sepang however, where the circuit features two long straights, it is believed that KERS will make a big difference in terms of straight line speed, which is why the Red Bull mechanics have worked hard to resolve their previous problems with the unit. After having ran KERS successfully during both practice sessions today, Horner confirmed the team will make a definite decision on its further use tonight.
“In Australia we ran the system on the Friday, we felt there was a potential reliability risk and the benefit of KERS in Oz was arguably less than other venues,” admitted Horner to the media on Friday.
“We decided not to take that risk and removed the system from both cars on Friday evening with a view to running system. The system has run well and reliably here, so a decision will be made later this evening,” he concluded.
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