Mercedes Benz

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Barcelona, Spain, Feb 19, 2011

Nico Rosberg was in action at the wheel of the MGP W02 in Barcelona today for the second day of this week’s test.


A positive day of running saw Nico complete further acclimatisation work with the KERS system, alongside set-up comparisons and aerodynamic evaluations in the morning session. During the afternoon, the team successfully completed its second full race simulation of this week’s test, including live pit stops.

Nico completed 131 laps, which equates to over 600kms of running and is one lap short of two full race distances at the Circuit de Catalunya. He will continue the programme tomorrow before Michael resumes testing on Monday.

Nico Rosberg: “We completed a great deal of mileage and that was important for me to understand more about the tyre behaviour. There is a lot for the drivers to learn about how the Pirelli tyres are performing, and about how to make them last over the long runs; it´s going to be a key factor this year in the races and I think we made good progress on that front today. The reliability was ok but everybody in the team knows we need to keep pushing to make sure we are trouble-free for the start of the season.”