The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) first introduced the kinetic energy recovery system (or simply know as KERS) to Formula One racing in 2009, but it had not been used with reliability until 2011. The KERS recovers a moving cars kinetic energy under braking and stores this in a reservoir (flywheel or battery) for later use under acceleration. Current rules caps its power capacity to 60 kilowatts (80 bhp), but come the 2014 season, it will be doubled to balance Formula One's move from 2.4 liter V8 engines to 1.6 liter V6 engines.
Another relatively new rule is the "Driver Adjustable Bodywork" commonly know as drag reduction system (or DRS), first introduced in the 2011 Formula One season, in an effort to improve straight-line overtaking. During F1 competition, the DRS works only when certain conditions are met, such as, the pursuing car must be within one second (when both cars cross the detection point). Another one is that the DRS can only be used once two full racing laps have been completed, and when the pursuing car enters the designated "activation" zone defined by the FIA.
In the video below, World Champion Sebastian Vettel explains the KERS and DRS.
The DRS system was also used by the Nissan DeltaWing during this year's running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The KERS and DRS has certainly made Formula One races more exciting. Two thumbs up!
Thanks for reading.
Source: FIA, Formula One, Wikipedia.
Video credit: NextgenAutoVideos/YouTube
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