Report Friday: Mercedes GP – It’s off to a good start!

After completing the winter tests on a positive note thanks to a new aerodynamic package, the men of Mercedes GP were eager to head to Melbourne to more seriously compete with their rivals.

The first day for the Grays went relatively well. The W02 was in the top 10 during both sessions with Rosberg in fourth position this morning. The young German hopes to confirm this performance throughout the rest of the weekend and is eagerly looking forward to tomorrow.

Michael Schumacher – 8th and 6th:

My first impressions of the 2011 season are relatively positive. We learned a lot today and are more or less where we thought we would be, despite there being a bit of wind and it not being easy for driving.

«We will address some issues with our single-seater for the rest of the weekend, but I am happy with what we’ve seen so far. I would like to congratulate the Pirelli tires, which performed very well today.»

Nico Rosberg – 4th and 10th:

It was a good day for us. I had a positive morning and long runs this afternoon, which was useful to see how the tires behaved. However, it was a bit difficult for me in FP2 because a bunch of things didn’t work on the car. It’s hard to say where we are at the moment but I think we’re in good shape, I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

Ross Brawn – Team Principal:

It’s good to finally have some action here in Melbourne and start working to see where we are after the winter. Today went reasonably well for us, and we were able to complete a good part of what was planned for both sessions, despite some minor issues with the cars in the afternoon.

This was the first opportunity to test the tires, the KERS, and the rear wing during a race weekend, which was very useful for the drivers and the team. There is a lot to evaluate before tomorrow’s qualifying, but I’m happy with our start to the weekend.