Mercedes GP team boss Ross Brawn still hopeful for the new car, W02
Mercedes GP team boss, Ross Brawn dismissed all speculations regarding an uncompetitive team car for the upcoming 2011 Formula 1 season.
While talking to the media, the Briton stated that the gap noticed in the early winter tests does not make him sceptic for the team’s performance this season. He assured that the Mercedes GP factory has done a great job on the new car, W02, and in no time
the results will be visible on the track.
Although the team was able to mark the fastest lap twice in the early pre-season test sessions, still the reliability issues on the track could not be over looked. While one of the team drivers, Nico Rosberg proclaimed after the first test that he was much
concerned about the reliability of the car, the other driver, Michael Schumacher declared that he does not expect the team to be among the title contenders this year.
Although Brawn agreed to the fact that W02 was off the pace at the moment and some reliability issues were also visible in the practice sessions, yet he assured that before the season begins many of these issues will be taken care of.
While talking to the media this Friday, he proclaimed, "It's a fair statement. We are well aware of the pace of our current car, the distance to the current front runners and the reasons for this, which include the compromises brought about by our cooling
issues. Our intention was always to launch the car in a fairly basic specification to allow more time to focus on the upgrade package. This inevitably means that we look further off the pace than people might expect."
He further admitted that the team struggled with the overheating problem of the package on the track but insisted that this was only the testing phase and all bugs have been noticed and will be removed shortly.
He explained, "The biggest challenge for us so far has been a cooling problem. The solution has been incorporated into the bodywork design for our upgrade package and will recover that performance before the first race."
However, Brawn concluded saying that the upcoming final pre-season test in Barcelona will be the true indicator of the car’s performance. He agreed that the season opener, scheduled to be held in Australia at the March 27, could not be their best race and
winning might not be possible. However, he assured that as the season will keep unrolling, better performances by the team will be seen.
Moreover, the team also expects to see its driver and the seven-time World Champion, Schumacher, getting back to his old form once again and showing the same racing wonders after an abortive comeback last year.
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