Heikki Kovalainen on KERS

Caterham F1 Team have introduced KERS to their car for 2012. This is the first time since they launched as Lotus in 2010 that they have this important system.

Before I get into Heikki's first impressions of the new system , let me briefly explain KERS for those not so familiar with it. First of all KERS stands for Kinetic Energy Recovery System. When an F1 car brakes, as it does many times during a lap it produces kinetic energy. This kinetic energy is then stored in a flywheel or a battery, for example. The energy is then released when the driver presses a button, leading to a boost of speed. The amount of usable KERS energy is restricted to 60 Kilowatts giving an extra 80bhp. The driver is able to use this extra power every lap, at the end of every lap the KERS power is reset so it can be used again. In 2014 when the new regulations come in for 1.6 litre turbo engines the available KERS power will increase to 120 kilowatts which translates to an extra 160bhp. To put that in perspective, that's a boost equivalent to the full power of a 2006 Mazda MX5.

Back now to Heikki Kovalainen and his first outing in the new Caterham CT-01, in Jerez this week. Of course, KERS is nothing new to Heikki as he ran with it in his McLaren in 2009, during the first experiment with the system.

Heikki Kovalainen was the most overtaken driver in F1 during 2011. That doesn't mean he had a poor season, in fact quite the opposite. It showed that he consistently moved up the grid, but due to the overall race speed of the Lotus car he was driving, he was unable to sustain his positions. Heikki for me is one of the best drivers on the grid and he improves every year.

Heikki seems confident with the new Caterham CT-01 fitted with KERS. He had this to say following his first experience of the car in Jerez. “Kers will be very valuable, It’s probably worth three or four tenths (of a second) on average per lap at every circuit, some maybe a bit more, some a bit less." He then went on to talk
about the most important aspects of KERS, “Where it really counts is in the racing situations – at the starts, defending, overtaking. That’s where it will be really crucial."

Caterham had some good finishes last season. The lack of KERS was most likely the reason they couldn't make up those final few places to put them in a points scoring position.

With KERS in place, I am confident that Caterham will achieve their goal of getting their first point. Having said that, I am of the opinion that they'll go on and score a fair few points. Let's see what happens.

Don't forget to read the exclusive interview with Tony Fernandes on this website. Also, if you are a Catetham supporter, you can still read my preview of 2012 for the team.