Red Bull to use Renault's KERS

Red Bull Racing had originally looked at developing their own system, but the progress was far from smooth, with the team famously suffering a factory fire scare in the middle of last year when batteries overheated.

Although the team had looked like sticking with their original plans as recently as the end of last year, they are now set to instead take Renault's own unit as an extension of their engine supply deal.

In a feature about Renault's KERS progress on the official Formula One website, the French car manufacturer said: "The team will provide its KERS system to another team this season."

Red Bull Racing's Christian Horner also confirmed that the team were now awaiting data from Renault's first running with KERS before progressing with their development of the unit.

Horner told autosport.com: "We will await the outcome of Renault's initial running before activating our identical system."

Although teams appear to be at varying levels of development with their KERS, Renault are sceptical about the chances of the devices improving the racing in 2009.

"If all the teams use KERS, they will use it in the same way, in the same places, at the same times, and so there will be no advantage," the team said. "On the other hand, not having the system will be an enormous handicap."

And Renault have also countered suggestions that F1 development of KERS will have no relevance to industries outside the sport.

"The development of electrical motors capable of delivering 80 horsepower for minimum space and weight while operating in a very harsh environment represents a significant step forward in the world of energy recovery," explained the team.