News Formula 1 and others race series

Although their 2010 car is still firmly under wraps, Mercedes GP have unveiled the new silver and green colour scheme with which they will contest the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship. The team’s management and drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg all attended the event, which was held at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in the German city of Stuttgart on Monday.

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The new livery blends the German carmaker’s legendary ‘Silver Arrows’ heritage with the colours of the team’s title partner Petronas. As an additional reference to the Mercedes W25 of 1934, when the car’s white paint was scraped off to expose the shining alloy underneath, traces of black carbon fibre will be visible on the nose of the MGP W01.

“Finally the 2010 Formula One season is firing up!” said Schumacher, who returns to Formula One racing for the first time since 2006 with the former Brawn team. “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.”

Schumacher’s team mate for 2010, Nico Rosberg, was equally enthusiastic, saying: “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 am looking forward to working with everyone and will give it my all to reward their fantastic efforts with good on-track results this season.”

Over 600 guests, including 200 Mercedes-Benz employees, were present at the launch, which was opened with a welcome speech by Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars. The newly-rebadged Mercedes GP team, however, will continue to be led by Ross Brawn, who took Brawn GP to victory in both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships last 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 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.”

Norbert Haug, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport’s vice president, added: “With today’s presentation of our new 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. 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.”

The team’s 2010 car will make its track debut next week when the first official Formula One test of the season gets underway in Valencia, Spain on February 1.