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Mercedes roll out the MGP W02 - Schumacher and Rosberg pull the covers off the 2011 car

Published by Christine

The W02 breaks cover in Valencia
Credit: Mercedes GP

Ross Brawn was one of the first team chiefs to hold his hands up and admit that 2010 wasn't working, concentrating development on 2011 instead.

Today we got to see the fruits of those months of labour, with the W02 unveiled in Valencia. The car continues the trend for higher noses and sculpted sidepods, and the livery has a bit more green to go with the silver.

Brawn is particularly confident by what the team have achieved so far, and is hoping for even more as the weeks pass.

With a good technical structure and a strengthened race engineering organisation, both at the factory and the race track, I am confident that we have done and will continue to do a better job this year in all key areas.

We want to be setting the standard right from the start but if we are not, we will respond very strongly to get ourselves into the game. Everyone is excitedly waiting to see what the new season will reveal.

- Ross Brawn

Both Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were on hand to reveal the car, and both got a chance to drive the car today during the first day of pre-season testing. Schumacher is particularly keen to try out the new car and make sure it is more to his liking than the 2010 challenger.

I very much look forward to the new season. We have said it several times already but again, we are really to building up something big together. I am very confident that this season we will be standing on the podium much more regularly; ideally in the middle!

- Michael Schumacher

It's early days, of course, but Rosberg's first stint out in the car this morning ended up in tears as the car came to a halt with a broken gearbox. There's a long, long year ahead, but that isn't the start you would wish for.

All content in the series F1 Launches 2011