Mercedes GP’s Ross Brawn: the new car W02 is ‘not bad’
Mercedes GP team boss, Ross Brawn announced earlier today that although he does not claim to have the best car on the grid yet the team’s car is ‘not bad’ either.
The Briton, while talking to the media earlier today, stated that the final pre-season test session, scheduled to take place next week at Barcelona will be the true test of the car’s pace.
He insisted that the car has yet to undergo some very important modifications before it enters the first race of the season - the Australian Grand Prix - at the end of March. Initially, Bahrain was supposed to hold the season opener, but, due to riots in
the country, the race has been struck off from the calendar, for an unspecified time.
Earlier this week, the Mercedes-Benz motor-sport President, Norbert Haug proclaimed that the additional two weeks that the team now has due to race cancellation will help the German marquee further improve its car.
Moreover, Brawn also added earlier today that among other developments before the start of the season, Mercedes is focused on "exhaust solution". He added that so far none of the teams have come up with the kind of system that the team has in its exhaust
pipe.
When asked by the reporters about how he rates the new W02 car, the Brackley based team's boss replied, "I would say it's reasonable. It will not be a bad car, but of course we don't know where the others are."
Above everything else, the team fans and race experts are interested in determining the form of the seven-time World Champion and Mercedes' driver, Michael Schumacher.
When Brawn was asked if the combination of the new 2011 team car and the new Pirelli tyres will help the “good ol’ Schumi” show the same old wonders on the track, he replied, "There is still a lack of comparative data. What I can see is a very motivated
Michael. Overall, all he would say is that "Red Bull are strong, Ferrari, Renault and us look good. The other teams, I could only guess. It's difficult to quantify how big Red Bull's advantage is. I don't know what development steps they are yet to bring for
the first race. For us, it's a big step."
However, the race veteran concluded saying that until the first race of the season is not showcased, it is difficult to tell the true pace of any of the drivers or the team cars.
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