Rosberg to debut the car on the first day of pre-season testing
Monday 19 January 2015 15:31, UK
Mercedes have confirmed they will launch their new car, the W06, at Jerez on February 1 ahead of the first day of winter testing.
The car, the successor to the all-conquering W05, which was also launched at Jerez ahead of the first day of 2014 testing, will be unveiled before the 2015 action commences in southern Spain.
Nico Rosberg has been given the honour of debuting the car on track before handing over the W06 to Lewis Hamilton on Day Two. Rosberg will then return to action on Tuesday February 3 before Hamilton completes the test on Day Two.
‘This driver allocation is the reverse of that which was used at the opening test of 2014,’ a Mercedes statement clarified.
"The workload this winter has been as great as ever. Where last year we were preparing for an all-new formula of racing, we are now faced with the big challenge of making the next step in our development. We know that we went into the winter with a target on our backs for the other teams - and we are certain that our rivals will be competitive from the opening race in Melbourne," said team boss Toto Wolff.
"So we have to focus on every detail if we want to build any advantage this year and that is what we have done. This is an exciting time of year as our collective efforts all come together in the new car. Everybody in Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart has put a great amount of effort into creating the latest Silver Arrow and I thank them for their efforts so far. We are excited to see how the car performs when it begins running."
McLaren-Honda have announced that they will launch the MP4-30 on Thursday January 29, with Ferrari’s as-yet unnamed 2015 challenger first revealed a day later.
2015 CAR LAUNCHES
January 21: Force India
January 29: McLaren-Honda
January 30: Ferrari
January 31: Toro Rosso
February 1: Mercedes
