[Tech Issue] Odd Engine Note Changes from On-Board Shots

[shiny side up!]

I haven't seen any discussion of this, if I have missed it and it is another thread I apologize!

Has anyone noticed the engine note skipping around quite a bit in the on-board shots? At first I thought it was miss-shifts - and during the qualifying telecast, one of the SPEED commentators also noted it when on board with someone in Q3...

But in retrospect I think what I was hearing is the effect of KERS - when it kicks in, it sounds almost as if the driver downchanged at the wrong time (instant rev climb), and when it cuts out it sounds as if the driver upchanged at the wrong time (instant rev drop).

That also got me wondering about how the teams might change their gearing strategy to incorporate KERS. Clearly, the car's top speed in 7th gear would change drastically with 80bhp more - but according to Matchett on SPEED the drivers have been instructed by the teams to use a little bit of KERS spread around the track instead of all in one shot down the main straight - which would indicate that KERS is used in different gears around the track.

Anyway, interesting stuff - looking forward to the race to see how it plays out!