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May 23rd
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Webber: Red Bull KERS still needs work

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Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber has suggested that the caffeinated team still need to work on their Kinetic Energy Recovery System, with the device still not having worked for the team at the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend.

Red Bull Racing have struggled with a strong of issues with their KERS device throughout the 2011 season so far, and Webber was once again without the boost during the second half of the Chinese race.

Those issues followed his disastrous Saturday in Shanghai, when KERS problems stopped him from managing any real running in practice before he was eliminated from qualifying in Q1.

And Webber has now said that the KERS situation still needs resolving by the team, if they want to be able to consolidate their position as the pacesetters in the 2011 field.

"We now have a three-week break in the calendar before the next race in Turkey," he rambled in his latest column for the Herald Sun newspaper.

"It gives the people who have been on the road since before the season-opener in Melbourne a chance to see their families and friends again, and it also gives us time to hone the performance of the RB7."

He went on to explain that: "Top of the job sheet is KERS, which continued to give us problems in China.

"It's a key component in F1 this year and Red Bull Racing are not out of the woods with our system yet. We didn't run KERS in 2009 and we're playing catch-up to the likes of McLaren and Ferrari, who did."

He added: "The 80bhp boost that the system gives you for 6.6s per lap is worth between 0.3s and 0.5s per lap, depending on the circuit, and I had to race without it from lap 24 on Sunday."

But he said that he was sure that the team could get the device reliable for the next race of the championship in Turkey, as they looked to hit back after Lewis Hamilton's Chinese GP win.

"If we can get the system reliable in time for Istanbul, we'll head to the race with confidence," he smiled confidently.

"The RB7 is already a great car and we'll be looking to put McLaren back in their place after Lewis Hamilton's victory in China."

Webber managed to secure a podium finish in the Chinese race, despite having started the race from 18th place following his qualifying issues.