Renault has decided to bring its Kinetic Energy Recovery System back into service at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.
The Enstone-based squad started the 2009 campaign using the regenerative energy system but abandoned it after the Spanish Grand Prix when it found it offered fewer benefits than expected.
But the team said at the end of last month that it was considering reintroducing the device for Monza and confirmed its decision on Monday.
Engineering boss Pat Symonds reckons KERS will be a big advantage on the high-speed Monza layout, whose chicanes linking long straights provide ideal opportunities to deploy the 80bhp boost.
“There are three aspects of KERS that need to be considered: lap time, the advantage it gives from the start, and the ability to assist overtaking,” Symonds explained.
“Firstly, the gain in lap time of running KERS in Monza is likely to be around a quarter of a second and it’s worth even more in qualifying as you can do one release before you start a timed lap and another release during the timed lap.
“In terms of the advantage at the start, it’s a long way from the grid to the first corner in Monza and KERS will give an advantage of well over 15 metres compared with non-KERS cars.
“For assisting overtaking, you have to remember that Monza is a circuit where it’s very difficult to overtake, but running KERS certainly won’t disadvantage us in that respect.
“All these factors combine to make Monza a very favourable circuit for KERS.”
Although KERS has had a limited take-up and the benefits of the energy storage devices were widely derided earlier in the season, McLaren and Ferrari have proved their worth by winning the two most recent races in Valencia and Spa.
The power boost function played a key role in Ferrari’s Spa win in particular, enabling Kimi Raikkonen to slipstream past Giancarlo Fisichella’s Force India at the restart following an early safety car period.
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