As you look at the Formula One odds this week, and have done any research, you know that the question being asked in the camp of the world’s top team is whether to go with KERS or not. As far as the team’s drivers are concerned, it’s not much of a question at all, but could there be complications with such a thing?

We’ll find out at the Malaysian Grand Prix, which takes place Sunday at the Sepang International Circuit in Selangor. Red Bull, which had a 1-2 finish last year in this race with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, is the -225 favorite in the Formula One odds for the Constructors’ title.

Formula One Odds

(Team point total in parentheses)

  • Red Bull -225 (35)
  • McLaren +300 (26)
  • Ferrari +450 (18)
  • Mercedes GP +2500 (0)
  • Renault +8000 (15)
  • Williams +8000 (0)
  • Force India +25000 (3)
  • Lotus-Renault +75000 (0)
  • Toro Rosso +35000 (4)

The Red Bull team is brazen enough after the first race of the season to be full expecting a 1-2 finish this week when the F1 circuit gets to Sepang for the Malaysian Grand Prix. They did it last year, and Sebastian Vettel has given this team an awful lot of hope with his wire-to-wire win at Melbourne. Red Bull is off to a nine-point lead over McLaren in the Constructors standings and they are -225 to win the championship in the Formula One odds.

They are going to use the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) in practice on Friday, and once again, I guess, it will come down to a late decision as to whether that component is going to inserted into the RB7 car. Last week, they went without it in Australia. However, it seems that Vettel (the early -125 favorite in Formula One odds to win the world title) and teammate Mark Webber, who have been at odds about a lot of things, are in unison when it comes to the need to use it this weekend.

“Australia, I hope, was a one-off,” Vettel said. “We were able to win the race even without KERS. But it’s not the plan for the season, because there’s no upside to it.” Webber has referred to KERS as a “no-brainer” for this race.

They’ve got a point. Taking the KERS out of the car for Melbourne has a move designed to promote stability in the car, and that was needed for the Australian track. But in Malaysia the straights are longer, which emphasizes the need for pure speed, and that is where KERS, which stores the energy used in braking and converts it into a real boost when triggered, can take a car to a new level.

Ferrari (+450 in Formula One odds) used it two years ago, and that is one of the reasons Fernando Alonso, one of that team’s drivers, believes his team may have an edge in using it, whereas a team using it for the first time is going to have some issues with dependability. Maybe that’s something the Red Bull guys wind up wrestling with.

Teams in F1 talk a lot about fitness and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has emphasized that this is going to be a factor in favor of his drivers as they deal with the humidity that is expected at Sepang. Meanwhile, Webber, who is +1000 to win the driver title in Formula One odds, is looking for the conditions to be murder on the tires, and has expressed that the provider, Pirelli, is in for a challenge like it hasn’t ever faced before. He is disappointed in missing the podium in the race held in his home country – something that is always very important to these drivers – and feels he needs to come back with a big effort, which is always a factor that comes into play, as long as you’ve got the equipment under you.


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