25/01/2010
NEWS STORY
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While we will have to wait another week to see the car, today Mercedes unveiled the livery it and its drivers - Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg - will wear this season.
At the German manufacturer's museum in Stuttgart, the Mercedes GP Petronas team proudly showed off the silver livery which proclaims the return of the Silver Arrows to Grand Prix racing.
The event, which featured over 600 guests, including 200 media representatives and 200 Mercedes-Benz employees, was opened with a welcome speech by Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars before Schumacher and Rosberg unveiled the new livery on last year's car (a Brawn BGP 001). The team's 2010 car, the MGP W01, will make its track debut next Monday in Valencia.
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.
"Finally the 2010 Formula One season is firing up!," said Schumacher. "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."
"You can really feel the successful motorsport history of Mercedes-Benz here at the Museum in Stuttgart," added Rosberg, "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."
"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," said Ross Brawn. "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."
"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," added Norbert Haug. "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."
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