Renault Returns to KERS for Monza

Remember when we told you that Renault have decided to renounce their Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) because it proved worthless in the context of racing for points in 2009? And when Renault's boss Flavio Briatore strongly opposed the aforementioned technology for the 2010 season, asking the members of the teams' alliance (FOTA) to scrap it from next year's rule book?

Well you can forget about that, because the Enstone based team just confirmed they will in fact use KERS during the Italian Grand Prix, at Monza, this very weekend. According to the team's director of engineering Pat Symonds, the KERS unit is a sine-qua-non element of the R29 on the high-speed circuit of Monza. And, as long as they still have it, they'll use it during the course of the weekend.

“There are three aspects of KERS that need to be considered: lap time, the advantage it gives from the start, and the ability to assist overtaking,” said Symonds in a press preview of the Italian Grand Prix on Monday.

“Firstly, the gain in lap time of running KERS in Monza is likely to be around a quarter of a second and it's worth even more in qualifying as you can do one release before you start a timed lap and another release during the timed lap.”

“In terms of the advantage at the start, it's a long way from the grid to the first corner in Monza and KERS will give an advantage of well over fifteen metres compared with non-KERS cars.”

“For assisting overtaking, you have to remember that Monza is a circuit where it's very difficult to overtake, but running KERS certainly won't disadvantage us in that respect. All these factors combine to make Monza a very favorable circuit for KERS,” added the Renault engineer.

However, Symonds did not offer any other details on the KERS system developed by Renault. It is not known whether the Enstone based team have developed the unit any further from its last use – in the early stages of 2009 – or use the same configuration.