Nico Rosberg & Michael Schumacher at yesterday's press conference. Photo: Mercedes GP
Look out Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Renault, Mercedes GP Petronas look motivated and ready to take this year's Formula One Championship.
Yesterday’s Mercedes GP press conference was held in the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart before 600 guests. While most teams have toned down their season launches to reduce budget costs, yesterday was an opportunity for Mercedes and its new team of drivers to meet the press and celebrate its full return to one of the world’s most demanding forms of motor sport.
Mercedes pulled out of grand prix style racing at the end of the 1955 season following a tragic accident during that year’s famous Le Mans event which killed dozens of spectators and Mercedes driver Pierre Levegh. Back then Mercedes paired the incredible driving talent of Juan Manuel Fangio and Sterling Moss, but this season Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg will have the honor of representing the new team and its famous Silver Arrows cars. They indicated emphatically, that they can't wait for the season to get underway.
“Finally the 2010 Formula One season is firing up… I cannot wait for the competition to get underway.” said Schumacher. “…I am so motivated… 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…. 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….”
“You can really feel the successful motor sport 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…” said Nico Rosberg. “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….”
(Mercedes GP Petronas livery adorns last season's Brawn GP car giving fans some idea of how the new car will look. Next week at the Vancia track in Spain, Mercedes will test the new car for the first time. Photo: Mercedes GP)
Ross Brawn, Team Principal: “It is a privilege to be here at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart… with your first look around the Museum, you realize 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….”
Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "With [the] presentation of our new…Formula One Team, a new and certainly the most important chapter of over 100 years of Mercedes-Benz motor sport 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.”
It certainly is an exciting chapter in the company’s automotive history and signals their confidence and strength as a company. Remember that in the last two years, Honda, Toyota and BMW have all pulled works teams out of Formula One, citing the need to regroup during the economic crisis and the cost of running an F.1 team.
Nathan can be contacted at pricklyhedgehog@yahoo.com and welcomes your comments and suggestions, or you may post below.
For more info: http://www.mercedes-gp.com/
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