Red Bull will have to run with KERS in Malaysia

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner might have enjoyed a bit of a gloat in Australia following Sebastian Vettel’s dominating performance at Melbourne.

The defending World champion brushed aside the competition from Ferrari and McLaren all without using KERS.

Despite the Melbourne Park circuit’s characteristics meaning that KERS wasn’t vital due to its shorter straights, it was still an impressive performance to just hand over an advantage of an 80bhp boost for up to seven seconds a lap to their rivals and still be streaks ahead.

But McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton is convinced that they will not be able to give up on their KERS device in Malaysia.

'If we can get on the first two rows again we can compete with our KERS. I don't think they are going to be able to go too long without KERS.' Hamilton told Autosport Magazine.

Red Bull did run with their KERS device on Friday in Australia, but it isn’t as competitive as McLaren’s hence why they opted to run without it at all on the Saturday and Sunday.

Hamilton’s team-mate Jenson Button added: 'Most teams are getting 3.5 to 5 tenths out of KERS, and I think they are getting 1.5, It is good for us and something we need - we need to have a strong KERS system because in terms of their pace and every other area they are very strong.'

Red Bull are also struggling as their KERS increases their rear tyre wear, something they were already struggling with in comparison to other teams in Australia.

Another problem they have suffered with is overheating. Their KERS device is very tightly packaged and the team have been struggled to manage their batteries, something that could well cause troubles in the tropical heat and humidity of Malaysia.