Mercedes GP reveals 2010 colours

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This is the new colour scheme for the Mercedes GP Petronas team. As expected, the ‘Silver Arrows’ treatment has been added along with the shades of green due to the new sponsorship deal with the Malaysian oil company.

Even though the car presented at the Mercedes-Benz motor museum in Stuttgart is basically last year’s BGP-001 with a new paint job, the proper 2010 Mercedes – to be called the MGP W01 – will be officially unveiled on February 1st at the Valencia race track.

The colour scheme is a tribute to the German’s manufacturer rich motor sport history, in particular the 1955 championship. That season, Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss represented the ‘Three-Pointed Star’ with the W196 and it marked the last season in which the manufacturer competed in Grand Prix racing.

By returning to Formula One this season, it signals a return as a team in its own right after ending its long-time partnership as an engine supplier with McLaren, which dated back to 1995.

Hopefully the new livery will reward success for both Nico Rosberg and seven times world champion Michael Schumacher as the car hits the tracks this coming season.

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  4. Official press release from Mercedes GP in full:

    Today, the new Silver Arrows Formula One works team MERCEDES GP PETRONAS was presented at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. Nico Rosberg and seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher along with team management Ross Brawn, Nick Fry and Norbert Haug were introduced to guests with a presentation and press conference.

    Over 600 guests, including 200 media representatives and 200 Mercedes-Benz employees, visited the Mercedes-Benz Museum, one of the biggest and most famous car museums in the world, to see the launch of the team and the unveiling of the new Silver Arrows livery. Mercedes-Benz employees from the company’s manufacturing plants in Untertürkheim and Sindelfingen, 100 of whom were invited for their outstanding performances and 100 selected through a popular internal draw, also had the opportunity to take their first look at the new MERCEDES GP PETRONAS team.

    The event opened with a welcome speech by Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars before Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg unveiled the new Silver Arrows livery for the 2010 season on last year’s car. The team’s 2010 car, the MGP W01, will make its track debut at the first Formula One test in Valencia on Monday 1 February, with the 2010 Formula One season starting in Bahrain on 14 March.

    The new silver and green livery creates a true marriage between the heritage of the Silver Arrows and the team’s title partner PETRONAS. The legacy of the Silver Arrows goes back to the 1934 Eifel Race when, on the evening before the event, the white paint was sanded off the Mercedes W25 race car to fulfil weight regulations (750kg formula) and the silver colour of the aluminium surface of the car appeared. This season, with the return of the Silver Arrows, the MGP W01 will shine in silver combined with a flow of iridescent silver and green shading. On the nose and other parts of the car, traces of black carbon fibre visible are visible – a reminder of the first Silver Arrow of 1934.

    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.”

    ROSS BRAWN, TEAM PRINCIPAL, MERCEDES GP PETRONAS:
    “It is a privilege to be here at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart today for the official presentation of the MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One Team. With your first look around the Museum, you realise the fantastic racing heritage of Mercedes-Benz and we hope to be able to contribute to those successes going forward. Our team have been working extremely hard throughout last year and over the winter on the development of the MGP W01 and everyone at the team is looking forward to the start of testing in Valencia next week. We have two excellent drivers in Nico and Michael, who will form one of the most exciting and one of the best partnerships on the grid, and with the support of Mercedes-Benz, Aabar, our new title partner PETRONAS and all of our team partners, everyone is looking forward to the 2010 Formula One season with anticipation.”

    NORBERT HAUG, VICE PRESIDENT MERCEDES-BENZ MOTORSPORT:
    “With today’s presentation of our new MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One Team, a new and certainly the most important chapter of over 100 years of Mercedes-Benz motorsport history begins. The new Formula One season will offer challenges which will be bigger than ever before in over sixty years of the sport’s history. We look forward to the cooperation with our drivers Nico Rosberg who has enormous capabilities and perspectives, and with seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher who is no less motivated than at the time when he began his professional motor racing career with Mercedes-Benz and then made his first step into such a successful Formula One career with our support. Today I also cordially welcome our new title partner PETRONAS as well as our co-investor Aabar/IPIC together with all of our team partners. I warmly welcome all our colleagues from last year’s World Championship team Brawn GP headed by Ross Brawn and Nick Fry to the Mercedes family. There are challenging tasks ahead of us and we will tackle them with power, consistency and full motivation.”

    http://www.mercedes-gp.com/

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  5. Michael Schumacher says Mercedes GP has all it needs to win the world championship this year – but admits that success is far from guaranteed.

    Clearly eager to get on with his first test in the 2010 car, which will be unveiled at the Valencia test next week, Schumacher said at the launch of his team’s new colour scheme in Stuttgart on Monday that all the elements were in place for a successful campaign.

    “I think we have everything it takes to do it,” said Schumacher, appearing in Mercedes-Benz race overalls.

    “It’s one thing to have all the ingredients to be able to cook it up but it’s another thing to have a good result. I believe with the experience Ross has, with what we did last year, having Mercedes as the team itself, with all the experience and the know-how and the quality they have, on top of myself… I’m sorry but there’s only one target.

    “But it’s one thing to have a target and another thing to achieve it.”

    Schumacher confirmed that physically he was in top shape, and that his neck had held up perfectly well to last week’s outing in a GP2 car at Jerez in Spain.

    “Yes, I’m sure,” he said when asked if he was confident he was fit enough for an F1 return. “I’m hot. It’s just taking far too long to get going and we can’t wait for next week. I have no issues with the neck. I’ve done the GP2 test and lots of preparation in the winter, lots of check to make sure all is good.”

    Schumacher also revealed that team principal Ross Brawn had been pushing him to make a return before this year – and that he was first approached about a potential tie-up with Honda two years ago.

    “Quite honestly, we had been almost every year in contact,” said Schumacher about his contacts with Brawn. “When he went to Honda at the time, he sort of suggested that there was an option, but I wasn’t ready for it.

    “We always kept in contact, and saw each other at the races and we had loose contact – sometimes it was a serious question from him and sometimes it was a joke. In Abu Dhabi, he sort of touched already a little bit about this subject, but not deeply. We were just celebrating mainly, and then he called me.

    “Knowing that he calls me at this time of the year, and you know what is going on in the business, you knew what was going to be his question.”

    Source: Autosport.com

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  6. Nico Rosberg says he is convinced the Mercedes GP team will offer him and team-mate Michal Schumacher the same opportunities during the 2010 season.

    The German admitted, however, that he had doubts when he first heard Schumacher would be his team-mate at the German squad.

    “Of course there was a little bit of doubt in me, because Michael has a very good relationship with Ross [Brawn] and all that,” Rosberg said during the unveiling of Mercedes’s official colour scheme in Stuttgart.

    “But to be very honest recently I had a lot of discussions with Norbert and Ross and I’m very, very confident and comfortable that we will both have the same opportunities, same car, same everything. So that’s fantastic.

    “I think it’s in the race philosophy of Mercedes, and the way Ross wants to do it, so that’s the way it’s going to be.”

    Rosberg is also confident he will be a good match for his seven-time world champion team-mate, but made it clear they first need to focus on working for the team.

    “First of all I think it’s important to say that we are racing together for Mercedes GP Petronas and it’s also important that we achieve success for the team,” he added. “And then obviously it’s important for me as a driver to beat my team-mate, so definitely it’s going to be a big challenge this year.

    “It’s not going to be too easy. But I’m confident that I will be strong this year, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Anyway, for me it’s a fantastic opportunity to have Michael as a team-mate. I look forward to working with him.

    “I’m sure we will work well together. Definitely he has a lot of experience so there’s a few things that I will be able to pick up from him.”

    The German driver, who had raced for the Williams team so far in F1, conceded the move to Mercedes is offering him a big change to finally succeed.

    “Yeah, definitely. This is the opportunity that I have been waiting for. I’ve had great years with Williams. It was a great time and I’m very thankful to the team and everything. But this is a very important step in my career and hopefully we’ll have a winning car.

    “Things are looking good at the moment and I just need to try and make the best of it. I’m confident it will be a very strong year for me.”

    Source: Autosport.com

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  7. Mercedes GP team boss Ross Brawn is convinced Michael Schumacher will be at his very best when he returns to Formula 1 racing this year.

    The seven-time world champion is back into grand prix racing over three years after his retirement from the sport in 2006.

    Although there are still questions about how competitive the 41-year-old will be, Brawn has no doubt that the “old Schumacher” will be back as soon as the racing begins.

    “I think so, yes,” said Brawn during the launch of the Mercedes team’s official colours in Stuttgart.

    “I think there’s lots of analysis that show the peak of your physical condition is in your 30s. It depends on the sport and Michael is achieving the parameters he was achieving when he was younger, in terms of his training, endurance, stamina and strength. He’s already reaching the parameters he was achieving many years ago.

    “So I don’t see any problem at all. He’s an exceptional athlete, you must remember that. And because of the attributes you need to race a car… it’s not like he’s a runner or any other type of sportsman. There’s nothing in a car that wears out parts of your body.

    “It’s just down to your stamina and strength, so I fully expect Michael to be able to cope with any demands I make of him.”

    He added: “Talking about Michael, the raw talent doesn’t disappear. What normally happens with drivers is they lose the physical ability to compete. F1 is a very physical sport, so they lose the physical capacity and they lose the determination that you need to compete at every race, every minute of the day, and every lap of the circuit.

    “What I saw with Michael was that he had been refreshed by his break – and I’ve had that experience myself of having a sabbatical.

    I know that reminds you of the good things, the things you miss – and he is refreshed from his break. And I think you saw today he is looking incredibly quick and he is looking far younger than his 41 years.

    “So I don’t think the physical side is a problem. He has shown amazing determination and commitment already. He has been to the factory many days, working with the engineers, and I don’t think the talent disappears.

    “If the talent eases off a little bit, you have the huge experience that he has to compensate. So I think put all those elements together. He has a tremendous work ethic, and he would not do this unless he was convinced that he can do the job – and I am convinced he can do the job.

    “And, I’ve seen a already an amazing commitment and it reminded me of the old Michael Schumacher.”

    While Brawn admits no one will know how strong Schumacher is until the first race, the team boss reckons there is no reason to believe the German has lost any of his abilities.

    “Well, yes, it’s true that none of us will know until he starts competing again at what level he will be. But if you look at it the other way around, why shouldn’t he be at the level he was at? In the latter part of 2006 he did some of his strongest races, so there’s no reason not to believe.

    “Every driver, when they finish a season and they go into the next season, they start again, with the belief that they are going to perform, and we have absolute belief that Michael is going to perform. I don’t know if it will take a race of two to get to the level he will want to achieve.

    “I personally don’t think so. I think Michael will perform at a very high level straight away. There is no reason not to believe.”

    Source: Autosport.com

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  8. Ross Brawn insists that there will be no number one driver at Mercedes GP this year – despite the outfit having convinced Michael Schumacher to return to Formula 1.

    Although Schumacher has enjoyed number one status while working under Brawn in previous spells at Benetton and Ferrari, the seven-time champion has been told he will be treated totally equally to team-mate Nico Rosberg.

    Speaking at the launch of the Mercedes GP 2010 colour scheme in Stuttgart on Monday, Brawn said that the only factor that would change the parity at his team would be if one driver started putting together a serious title challenge.

    “I would dispute this title of the number one driver – the number one driver is the fastest one,” explained Brawn. “Whoever is the fastest driver and winning the most races, you can argue is the number one driver. We will give maximum support to both drivers.

    “Of course if a championship starts to develop, where one driver has a greater chance of winning the championship, or it becomes numerically possible only for that driver to win the championship, then there may be different priorities.

    “It will be absolutely evenly split and I think we demonstrated this past season that we gave both Jenson [Button] and Rubens [Barrichello] absolute equal support.

    “That will be the case this year and it is there for both drivers to establish their positions, beat each other, compete with each other but do it in the correct fashion in a constructive way. That will be the strength of the team to achieve that. We don’t have a number one driver and we don’t intend to have a number one driver.”

    Brawn said that the move by Michael Schumacher to request the number three originally pencilled in for Nico Rosberg was down to simple superstition – and nothing to do with him trying to stamp his authority at the team.

    Furthermore, Brawn said that both drivers had been consulted about their race engineers for 2010.

    “Both drivers have had discussions about who will be the most suitable engineers, which worked out very nicely – Nico will have Jock Clear and Michael will have Andrew Shovlin,” explained Brawn.

    “It suits their stages of their career, and suits what they need to achieve. We’ve discussed it and been completely open.”

    The team said it is yet to finalise a contract with a third driver, but it is hoping to make an announcement next week.

    Source: Autosport.com

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