Renault will use KERS at Monza

Renault has confirmed that the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) will be reintroduced for the Italian Grand Prix, to join Ferrari and McLaren Mercedes, for the very fast Monza circuit. The recent races in Hungary and Spa Francorchamps have shown that the KERS can be a major asset on the straights.

«The time gain per lap at Monza with KERS is indeed a quarter of a second, and it’s even better during the qualifying» explains the technical director of the Renault team, Pat Symonds. «In terms of starting advantage, the straight is long before hitting the first corner, and KERS will provide a clear advantage of more than 15 meters for the cars that don’t have it. All the factors combine to make Monza a very favorable circuit for KERS» he concludes.

With an average lap speed of 250 km/h and engines at full throttle 75% of the time, Monza is unique for its high speed, and Renault, along with its competitors, will have a low downforce aerodynamic package to maximize straight-line speed.

“We’re going to use a completely different aerodynamic package, which will have 10 to 15% less downforce than the package we used at Spa,” says Symonds. Fernando Alonso and his new teammate Romain Grosjean, both of whom did not finish their Grand Prix, will be eager to prove themselves in Italy with a sense of revenge. Alonso believes that the team has the potential to fight for the podium.

We know that we have a car that is fast enough to approach the podium. That will be my goal this weekend in Monza, highlighted the double Formula 1 world champion. We saw that the car was really fast at the Nürburgring, in Budapest, and in Valencia, but for various reasons, we didn’t score the points we should have. However, I always look forward, try to stay positive, and want to believe that we can finish the year strong.