Heidfeld plays down KERS fears

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Sunday 27th July 2008

Nick Heidfeld has played safety fears about Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS).

KERS will be introduced in Formula One next season, but significant safety concerns were raised this week during testing in Jerez.

A BMW mechanic suffered an electric shock when he came into contact with a car fitted with device. He suffered grazing to his arm and spent a night in hospital after complaining of dizziness.

Heidfeld, though, believes it will take time to get used to the new system, but he is nevertheless confident they will be ready come next season.

"Of course KERS is very new," the German told Autosport. "I think we are one of the first to use it on track.

"Of course everyone knows what happened and everybody tried everything in advance to be safe, but when you introduce new technologies these things can happen.

"I am quite confident for the future that it can be made safe. As we know from road cars, it is possible to be safe and I think we will achieve it."