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Mercedes W02 Unveiled in Valencia

After teasing us with a computerized image of their 2011 challenger yesterday morning, Mercedes GP has finally unveiled its brand new MGP W02 in front of the media today, in the pit lane of Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit.

There were no less than 4 teams who have proceeded to pit lane launches this morning, and Mercedes GP was the last of them. As noticed in the image released yesterday, the car's design for the 2011 championship features the same high nose concept present on all 2011 contenders so far, along with a restructured airbox area.

In addition to those trendy characteristics, the new W02 comes with restyled sidepods and a slightly different livery for 2011, comprised of a bit more green from title sponsor Petronas.

As reported yesterday during out initial info on the new car, Nico Rosberg will be the man in charge of driving duties this morning, after which the car will fall in the hands of Michael Schumacher later in the afternoon. The idea of having both drivers experience track time on Tuesday was to figure out if the car now suits Schumacher's driving style, something that was an issue during last year's campaign.

Needless to say, following their disappointing campaign in 2010, Mercedes are aiming much higher this year. And that's because Ross Brawn ceased development work on predecessor W01 midway through last season (for obvious reasons) and started focusing on the new challenger since the summer of 2010.

Valencia's testing has already started at Ricardo Tormo, so we'll keep you in touch with all the action in Spain through the course of today.
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