Mercedes GP Petronas - Mercedes MGP W01

Mercedes-Benz chose their museum in Stuttgart for the launch of their first F1 car in over fifty years. A factor in the selection of this location was probably the display of 50's era cars known as the Silver Arrows, a name the team is re-adopting now that the buy-out of Brawn (nee Honda) is complete. The Brawn team management is largely still in place with Ross BRawn and Nick Fry at the helm, with Norbert Haug moving across from McLaren (now a customer rather than a partner).

The Mercedes-Benz driver line-up consists of Michael Schumacher in car no. 3, and Nico Rosberg in car no. 4. The car numbers had been allocated the other way around, but were changed at the request of Schumacher who, it has been revealed, prefers to drive cars with an odd number rather than an even number. After the team was unable to hold on to Jenson Button they tried first to sign Kimi Raikkonen (who was already on the verge of signing his WRC deal) and then head hunted Michael Schumacher away from his advisory position at Ferrari.

Michael has signed a three year deal with the team and while he clearly still has the hunger for F1 - no business venture has yet occupied him enough to distract him sufficiently from speed - it is unlikely he will race on in F1 much past the end of that deal.

Nico Rosberg comes fresh from Williams having spent three years there 'learning the trade' and hungry for his first win. He has, as he has said himself, nothing to lose from going up against Schumi - if he runs hime close his stock will go up, and if he doesn't, it is unlikely to have a significant negative impact.

Brawn rapidly established itself as the team to beat last year, and part of the reason for that was the amount of effort that was directed away from the dog that was the 2008 car and instead invested in the 2009 car. Brawn certainly didn't have the luxury of doing that in 2009, so the MGP W01 probably won't have anything like last year's advantage on the track. That said, the 2009 car was very good, and with many aspects of the regulations remaining unchanged, and the team not having to cater for a last-minute engine change either, there are no excuses for a poor 2010 car.

Michael Schumacher: "Finally the 2010 Formula One season is firing up! I have to say that I am totally committed to this new challenge. This season feels like a re-start for me and I am so motivated. We have a very exciting combination at Mercedes GP Petronas. We have a World Champion team in every sense of the word and I cannot wait to get into the car for the first time in Valencia. I am convinced that Mercedes GP Petronas will be in a very good position to fight for the championships this season and I will definitely give it a go. Driving for Mercedes-Benz again is like the closing of a circle for me as I started my racing driver career with the three-pointed star on my helmet. This is another reason why I cannot wait for the competition to get underway."

Nico Rosberg: "You can really feel the successful motorsport history of Mercedes-Benz here at the Museum in Stuttgart and to be part of the new Silver Arrows team and that racing heritage makes me feel extremely proud and motivated. Since joining the team in November, I have spent a lot of time at the factory in Brackley, at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth and here in Stuttgart, which has given me the opportunity to settle in and get to know everyone. I have seen how hard the team is working on the new car and I really can't wait for the opportunity to drive it for the first time in Valencia next week. I am looking forward to working with everyone at Mercedes GP Petronas and will give it my all to reward their fantastic efforts with good on-track results this season."

The car will make its debut at the Valencia test on February 1st and is painted in silver and green. The original Silver Arrows were born after paint was sanded off the Mercedes cars to get them under the 750Kg weight limit, revealing the bare metal underneath. Mercedes have repeated this, leaving some areas of the chassis as bare carbon fibre.

author: Phil Haigh