The Mercedes drivers will share the first practice sessions

Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg will share driving duties of the new car for the first tests of the 2010 season in Valencia next week. Team principal Ross Brawn believes the team will need feedback from both drivers on the new MGP W01. Therefore, they will each have half a day of testing on the first day, which is Monday, followed by a full day each later in the week.

« Nico will start with the car, » said Ross Brawn. « What we want to try to do is give both drivers a feel for the first day. The first day will consist of checking the car and inspecting all the parts. There will no doubt be several critical parts. »

« Thus, during this period, we will switch drivers and we want both of them to rack up miles in the car from the first day to give us their impressions. Nico will probably do the second day and Michael the third day, » the Briton continued.

Brawn also stated that the team chose Stuttgart to unveil its new colors because they wanted maximum development time before the official season launch in Valencia.

She is not ready! There is a very strict program for everyone with the new car. We only have four test runs and we must have the maximum time before the first tests. The car’s performance is the most important thing for all of us.

« We have therefore launched the team and you have seen the choice of colors. And we will have the new car in Valencia on Monday. But it’s about giving total priority to the performance of the single-seater. We wanted to give the team the maximum time to get a car ready for the first test. »

He added: « The car we will have for the first test will only be a first step. We have a major upgrade before Bahrain. It might be something common, but what we will launch in Valencia will be the chassis and fundamentals for 2010. A new aerodynamic package will arrive for Bahrain. »