Mercedes Benz

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Jerez, Spain, Feb 13, 2011

Nico Rosberg was on duty in Jerez today for the fourth and final day to conclude the team's second pre-season test.


Nico's programme was to continue the set-up and development work from the previous three days, alongside further acclimatisation to the KERS system. A precautionary engine change interrupted the programme with good work from the team enabling Nico to go back out on track by mid-afternoon for a series of aerodynamic development evaluations. Nico completed 45 laps today.

The next track action will be the four-day test which starts at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya on Friday 18 February.

Nico Rosberg: "Every lap is beneficial in pre-season testing and the work that we achieved today was good, however the long stoppage was unfortunate. It's a steep learning curve and there is a lot of hard work ahead, but with the developments that we have to come, I am confident that we will continue to progress."

Ross Brawn: "The four days in Jerez have proved to be extremely useful for the team, although the test has not been without its challenges. We had good reliability for the middle two days which allowed us to accumulate a lot of mileage, however there are issues to be resolved so that we can maximise our track time for the remaining two tests. Both Michael and Nico continue to feel comfortable in the car and our priorities remain on reliability, developing our understanding of the tyres and the KERS, whilst simultaneously pushing on with the developments still to come. "