Mercedes unveil new team for 2010 season

The new Mercedes GP team today unveiled its new livery for the coming season at a media event in Stuttgart. Nico Rosberg, Michael Schumacher, 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 to see the launch of the team and the unveiling of the new Silver Arrows livery.

The event opened with a welcome speech by Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars before Rosberg and Schumacher unveiled the new livery. The team’s 2010 car, the MGP W01, will make its track debut at the first Formula One test in Valencia next Monday.

Michael Schumacher

“Finally the 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. 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 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 and will give it my all to reward their fantastic efforts with good on-track results this season.”

Ross Brawn, Team Principal

“It is a privilege to be here at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart today for the official presentation of the Mercedes GP 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, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport VP

“With today’s presentation of our new Mercedes GP 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.”