Red Bull RB7 Renault

[r0adrunn3r]

Energy density of ultracapicators still way to low (5-6Wh/kg).Best li-ion cells are currently at 180Wh/kg.

To hold the 400kj how many cells do they need?

I know the more cells they have, the less the are hammered through quick discharge and charging.

[CHT]

I honestly dont think RBR has a KERS issue at all. They are just sandbagging themselves using KERS to make the 2011 championship look more interesting.

LOL im sure they wish that was the case. They have a self inflicted battery problem. They decided to develop their own battery pack to suit their preferred installation next to the engine gearbox. This is overheating and the cells inside are failing ( or perhaps vice versa).

guess it is a risk which they could afford to take because they have a car that is way ahead of the field at the moment. You reckon they will switch to the Renault KERS battery pack system if they couldn't solve the reliability issue with their current KERS?

[CyleB]

im kind of hoping that they abandon it until everything is worked out the car will be much better set up without it... they have no advantage of running it if it doesnt work so why keep it on. develop it and when it works then put it on

[Lindz]

Well with such limited testing... 'developing it' is trying to run it in race weekends.

[kalinka]

Well with such limited testing... 'developing it' is trying to run it in race weekends.

+1

And if they learn how to setup the car without KERS, it would be a totally different car with KERS installed, so they can do the learning curve from the start again. More so if the KERS wouldn't be the same which they currently "use"...

[i70q7m7ghw]

There is less of an advantage gained for not running this year as well, since the weight distribution is fixed. If they take it out they just have to fit a big block of ballast where it used to be - speaking in terms of the weight distribution.

[CyleB]

There is less of an advantage gained for not running this year as well, since the weight distribution is fixed. If they take it out they just have to fit a big block of ballast where it used to be - speaking in terms of the weight distribution.

they can spread the weight alittle more instead of it being one huge chunk they can split it up and spread it out and still stay within the reg. the bulls are doing great without the use of it.. it would be more advantages to remove it and spread that weight out. develop it outside of the car during the off season

[bot6]

The only advantage weight wise would be CG height, as the KERS system is not quite as compact and low in the chassis as a block of ballast. But even that advantage is small, because most of the weight of the system comes from the batteries, which are pretty "dense" anyway.

I think the main advantage of not running the system is aerodynamic: less cooling and space needed, so smaller sidepods and tighter packaging around the engine.

[horse]

I think the main advantage of not running the system is aerodynamic: less cooling and space needed, so smaller sidepods and tighter packaging around the engine.

It's interesting that a flywheel system wouldn't have suffered these overheating issues. Just working out where to stick it would have been the tough part. I was surprised when Williams didn't run theirs.

[bot6]

True, but a flywheel system has a higher CG, and when accelerating or decelerating the flywheel, the system would have an influence on the behaviour of the car.

[Tamburello]

when there is that much money on the line at the end of the season can anyone afford to sandbag during a race???? i mean really if the smallest thing goes wrong with their car they are out of the race.. missing out on points.... i think the " drink company" wants to crush everyone. Vettel 2 for 2 i dont think they are sandbaging

ultimately what Bernie, this drink company and other major sponsors are after is the TV viewership and TV revenue. Without them, F1 will not survive. The closer the championship, the better it is for everyone, including the fans.

Imagine if RBR or Vettel would to consistently qualify 1 to 2 secs ahead of the rest, I am pretty sure not many people will be keen to talk about or watch F1 this season.

It never stopped the sponsors pouring in when Schumacher was dominating with Ferrari ( though I got to admit, personally I started watching fewer and fewer races for a few years).

And besides, I don't think Webber would take too kindly to being the sacrificed pawn in this TV ratings stratagem. He'd be singing like a parrot about it right now...

[Francesc]

[PaulB]

What a picture! thanks!

[ringo]

is the floor section behind the barge boards serrated?

[BreezyRacer]

After significant brightening and contrasting the image it looks like the upper tea tray flange doesn't fit smoothly to the floor section. There is indeed a gap there, which I could only believe to be intentional.

It's like the horizontal flange becomes a small vortex generator, as if it's trying to minimize turbulence where the airflow starts under the floor. That vortex could conceivably extend all the way along the step in the floor and into the diffuser box, though it's hard to keep a vortex for that kind of length. It is a very high pressure area though ..