Rubens Barrichello says Williams might give up KERS in the 2011 Formula 1 season
Williams’ driver, Rubens Barrichello, has said in an interview after the third day of the Barcelona test session that the Kinetic Energy Recovery System is making life difficult for the team. He added that before the start of the 2011 Formula 1 season, Williams
might remove the technology from the car.
Barrichello, who is the most experienced Formula 1 driver, was talking to the media where he said, “We need to decide quickly what we are going to do. I hope we do not conclude that we have to race in Melbourne without KERS, but it is possible.” He further
added that Williams performance is let down by the KERS system which does not properly work with the new FW 33 car. “It is an uncertain factor for us; one day it gives us no problems and the next day it gives us hundreds of problems,” he added. However, Rubens
did not say anything about the new gear box.
With 303 Grand Prix starts, Barrichello also commented that he is not quitting on his Formula 1 career. He said, “What touches me the most is the feeling of how competitive I am after more than 300 grand prix.” The only man close to Barrichello is the seven
time Formula 1 World Champion, Michael Schumacher, who has 268 starts.
2011 is Barrichello’s 18th consecutive Formula 1 season. He has been associated with Jordan, Stewart, Ferrari, Honda, Brawn GP and Williams. Barrichello has 654 career points with 11 Grand Prix wins. He was alongside Schumacher in his world record
spell of five consecutive World Championships from 2000 to 2005.
For the 2011 season, Barrichello is with the Williams team and is targeting a few Grand Prix points. The testing continues in Barcelona on Friday and Barrichello is behind the wheel for the last time before the season starts. He will hand over the car on
the final day to Pastor Maldonado to get his point of view on KERS.
Williams have two more days before they leave for the Australian Grand prix. It will be interesting to see how Barrichello and Maldonado work with KERS or get rid of it.