The situation with Mark Webbers KERS....

[Nando]

Button Webber Massa,

same same but different

[siskue2005]

atleast from the three of them Button has managed a WDC

[Nando]

atleast from the three of them Button has managed a WDC

One was a champ for a couple of seconds. The other could have been champ in 2010 and the third driver never really had an enemy on track.

[raymondu999]

They are, in the right car, all WDC capable. Button showed that in 2009. Massa showed that (almost) in 2008. Webber, in a way - almost too. Had the season lasted 2 races shorter Webber would be the 2010 WDC.

[Nando]

They are, in the right car, all WDC capable. Button showed that in 2009. Massa showed that (almost) in 2008. Webber, in a way - almost too. Had the season lasted 2 races shorter Webber would be the 2010 WDC.

Yea or had Webber just qualified next to his teammate in Abu Dhabi he would have been champ.

Qualifying 5th when your teammate takes pole is not a particularly strong ending to the season.

[f1316]

What I don't understand is why Red Bull would persist with the old alternator which, to paraphrase Adrian Newey, "has been on the engine since 2005 and has been failing since 2005", if a new one was tested and available.

I've read Renault's comments that, at the end of the day, the RB guys are human and make human decisions - better the devil you know etc. - but why risk a component known to be faulty against one that, all testing shows, is not.

Does the new alternator, which I understand will be used by RB in Brazil, also have some kind of downside? Were Lotus, in some way, compromised by using it vs. the old one? Even if ever so slightly. Probably not, but it just seems funny not to a use a fix if one is available.

[adam2003]

Why cant Mark webber rarely match Vettle in qualifying and in races? He must be angry knowing had championship winning car last 3 years and failed to win anything and not many races compare to his team mate

[WhiteBlue]

What I don't understand is why Red Bull would persist with the old alternator which, to paraphrase Adrian Newey, "has been on the engine since 2005 and has been failing since 2005", if a new one was tested and available.

I've read Renault's comments that, at the end of the day, the RB guys are human and make human decisions - better the devil you know etc. - but why risk a component known to be faulty against one that, all testing shows, is not.

Does the new alternator, which I understand will be used by RB in Brazil, also have some kind of downside? Were Lotus, in some way, compromised by using it vs. the old one? Even if ever so slightly. Probably not, but it just seems funny not to a use a fix if one is available.

You have to know the history of the failures. Until a month ago they had the situation that the 2011 unit never failed and the 2012 unit had several failures. According to AMuS RBR decided to stick with the 2011 spec as long as they could. But by now the 2011 spec alternators are old and the one that failed on Webber's car in Austin was the first to go. Renault now say that it is the smaller risk to run the modified 2012 spec units and RBR will have no choice but to stick those on both cars according to AMuS.
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 45289.html
Btw. the failure on Webber's car in Austin was also traced to the bearing that went wrong on the early 2012 spec alternators. The current 2012 spec is Mark II or Mark III. It is difficult to track what Renault are doing. Those units with the highest mileage of that spec have done 2,000 km in Williams, Lotus and Caterham cars. One can only speculate how they will perform in the RB8 in Brazil. It is certainly a major concern.

[Lurk]

2012 spec are now mark IV.
Not totally sure of the beginning race but it is something like that:
Mk I : Melbourne to Valencia
Mk II : Silverstone to Monza
Mk III : Singapore
Mk IV : since Suzuka

[Websta]

Why cant Mark webber rarely match Vettle in qualifying and in races? He must be angry knowing had championship winning car last 3 years and failed to win anything and not many races compare to his team mate

He has actually lead Vettel in 3 of the last 4 seasons pretty deep into the season, but in 2009 and 2012 he had an awful 5-6 race period after that in which he scored very few points, and in 2010 he was in contention all year. This year it has been close between them in Quali, like it was in 2010. I think his best chance to win was actually in 2009 - I'd have to look at the math but I think he was in a pretty strong position until his 5 race points drought.