Renault are already concentrating their efforts on next year's car
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Renault are planning to reintroduce the Kers system onto their car for the Italian Grand Prix on 13 September. Only McLaren and Ferrari are using the Kers energy storage and power-boost system after Renault dropped it following early-season difficulties. But the French team plan to employ the system again at Monza as part of a raft of new updates planned for their car. "We believe Kers will provide a real advantage at Monza," said technical director Bob Bell. "We're always adding new developments and for the next couple of races we'll be using a low downforce package on the car. "As for Kers, we don't plan to use it at Spa (the next race in Belgium), but we're considering it for Monza." The Italian race at Monza is the fastest track on the calendar with long straights and quick corners. World champion Lewis Hamilton's win in Hungary for McLaren last month is so far the only victory by a car equipped with the system that harnesses energy that would have been lost during braking and gives drivers a brief boost of power at the push of a button.
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606: DEBATE
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But Bell admits Renault, who are seventh in the constructors' championship and without a podium finish so far this year, were stretching their resources to the limit by continuing to develop the R29 car while also working on next year's car. Fernando Alonso remains the team's number one driver, but Renault hope the updates will favour new driver Romain Grosjean, who replaced the sacked Nelson Piquet Jr ahead of the last race in Valencia, as well. "We're managing things on a week-by-week basis and gradually allocating more and more resources on to next year's car whilst still pushing hard to improve the R29," he said. "We're fortunate that the aerodynamic regulations next year remain the same and we can transfer what we learn from the R30 on to the current car, but it's fair to say that the majority of the effort is now going into next year's car."
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