Mercedes unveils new W03

Tue, 21 Feb 09:48:00 2012

Mercedes became the last of the frontrunning Formula 1 teams to officially unveil its 2012 car, when it rolled out the W03 at Barcelona prior to the start of the second week of testing.

Formula 1 2012 Mercedes GP W03 Schumacher Brawn Haug Rosberg - 0

The new car has already shaken down the car at Silverstone last week, and conducted a private test at Catalunya on Sunday - which Mercedes was permitted to undertake because it had only been present for three of the four days of running at Jerez earlier this month.

Mercedes chose to stick with its 2011 car for Jerez in order to gain data on this year's Pirelli tyres, and was quickest on two of the days it was present - though it was running to full '11 specification, including the no-longer-permitted exhaust-blown diffuser.

Mercedes' motorsport chief Norbert Haug said earlier this week that the W03 would not feature any radical innovations - contrary to speculation that the team had waited until the second test to reveal the car because it featured technical breakthroughs it did not want rivals to copy.

The most obvious outward change is the move to a stepped nose, in common with the majority of rival teams.

W03 on track

Having been unable to beat rivals Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari to race wins in its first two years, Mercedes GP is hoping to get among the top three on a more regular basis this year.

Last season it revamped its technical team with the addition of former Renault man Bob Bell, ex-Ferrari design chief Aldo Costa, and Geoff Willis, formerly of Williams, BAR and Red Bull.

Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher continue in an unchanged driver line-up at Mercedes. With Schumacher coming into the final season of what was initially planned as a three-year comeback deal, speculation about whether the seven-time champion will stay on into 2013 and beyond is likely to be one of the biggest stories around Mercedes this season.

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Comment 1 - 16 of 16

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  1. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Looks no different than everybody elses! Another­ failure from Brackley!

    From Vivien, on Wed 22 Feb 0:14

  2. Golly, I can't wait until Will Gray rewrites this­ story in 3 weeks.

    From p!ssirk, on Wed 22 Feb 0:12

  3. Looks like something from that 1980s movie, Tron

    From GARRY, on Tue 21 Feb 23:17

  4. Swordfish.

    From Two, on Tue 21 Feb 19:05

  5. Or perhaps they were so horrified by the dodgy new­ noses that they waited to see what the other teams put­ out before joining the crowd.

    So, every team bar two­ have the "ugly" stepped nose.

    From Nav, on Tue 21 Feb 18:56

  6. Mr Haug says one thing different then Mr Brawn, and­ Schumi had said different then both; What is going on?­ Let's moved it!!!there is no more time for testing,­ Michael lost two years all ready traying all kind of­ thing en Mercedes doesn't show results.I hope that­ all this suspence and secrets brings something good­ this year.

    From PinoSchumi1, on Tue 21 Feb 13:59

  7. Looks like they have something innovative which will­ take alot of time for other teams to copy and the teams­ wont bother wasting their time and money focusing on­ that. i am sure they might bring it on a race day or­ something like that.

    From malik Mueez, on Tue 21 Feb 9:02

  8. I hope they have something up their sleeve. The Red­ Bull/Vettel show is old. I want variety and new faces­ up front. Bring back the 1100+hp turbo cars with no­ electronics gadgetry. DRS and KERS come on this is not­ the F1 we all love and know. FIA green cars the only­ thing I want green is my lawn and money!

    From Frank, on Tue 21 Feb 4:07

  9. I dont beleive Ross has nothing in his sleeve... btw­ they were first who tryed passive air management after­ Mac's active one.

    From darkbeer74, on Tue 21 Feb 4:02

  10. Haugh is playing the long game,with Brawn in agreement,­ what could be better than two top drivers to bring home­ the goods,,keep watching this space.......once the­ arrows start flying there will be nothing left of the­ other three(has been's) teams

    From mick d, on Tue 21 Feb 1:53

  11. Just can not wait to see the w03 on track.God will­ blessing the team and good luck.Hoping mercedesgp team­ will have a best start season and work hard.GO­ MercedesAMGgp team GO!!!

    From couch p, on Tue 21 Feb 1:04

  12. Hard to believe this is happening to a team that is­ used to winning at will, until it's arrival in the­ modern era.

    From Felice Tedechi, on Tue 21 Feb 0:32

  13. i hope they're sandbagging too. Still surprised­ to see them wallowing around. I still think Norbert­ has a little bit of a control issue. If he would just­ let Ross get his meathooks into the development side a­ little more we might just see a little more progress. ­ This week's test should be good

    From ericmueller1971, on Mon 20 Feb 22:36

  14. Nothing to see hear people. Move along now, move­ along....

    From Tom, on Mon 20 Feb 22:18

  15. "No big surprises on new Mercedes" So­ say's the Haug.

    From SideFX, on Mon 20 Feb 21:15

  16. Looks like it's going to be 'steady Eddie'­ with this new motor rather than fast out of the box and­ it's what Schumi has already hinted at also.I hope­ they're sandbagging to a certain extent.

    From Wizzo, on Mon 20 Feb 19:22
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