Paul Tan on the Automotive Industry
Both you and I couldn’t be there at the Mercedes GP Petronas team race car livery unveiling at the Mercedes-Benz Museum, but with the wonders of the internet you can watch a recording unveiling right here, right now, after the jump. There’s much more from the drivers in this video compared to the one posted earlier today, so enjoy!
Related stories you might be interested in reading:
F1: Mercedes GP Petronas reveals 2010 livery!
VIDEO: Drivers Michael and Nico talk about the new Mercedes GP Petronas team
Support our virtual racecar in the PETRONAS PRIMAX 95 XTRA Race!
Support our virtual racecar in the PETRONAS PRIMAX 95 XTRA Race – we’re currently in the lead! :)About the Author
After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.
Want a picture next to your comment? Register for a Gravatar account with the same email you use to comment!
i'm changing to silver from red this year plus apart of Green as well…haha =)
nice. proud of u petronas.
from the employee of MHS
I prefer the concept livery. The finalised one could have used more green on it than the little sliver at the front end.
1st
Your are the king and the best of all Schumi. The kids of F1 are going to learn a leason this year
welcome back michael schumacher
Ross Brawn started conceptualizing their 2010 car as early as spring 2009 and have been running their development programme continuously. Their 2009 race campaign did not affect their 2010 aero development programme at all except for the fact that they diverted a week's worth of development time towards the 2009 car since they needed a bit more development to give just enough advantage to win the 2009 championship.
That seems to be the only compromise they made on this new car even then Brawn said that the week's worth of development on the 2009 car aero still contributed towards the 2010 car because the aero rules remains unchanged although a much bigger fuel tank is now needed.
More interestingly, although the actual 2010 car will be unveiled in the 3-day Valencia test next week, Brawn indicated that the car will actually receive a major aero upgrade in time for the first race in Bahrain.
So they are essentially 'upgrading' their car even BEFORE the first race. Looks like Brawn the master strategist is not only developing the car to the hilt by not unveiling the new car at the official launch yesterday but he is also playing a 'chess game' against his competitors as by the time they spot the innovations on his car he is already ahead developing the next performance upgrade. The F1 race is not just on track but in the windtunnel as well.
So it seems that MercGP is as prepared as they can be, given the time constraints plus limited testing. They started work as early as it was possible (soon after FIA confirmed the 2010 regs I believe). So the only way a team would have been able to beat their development progress would be to run more windtunnel hours by say running two windtunnels at once like what Toyota tried to do before. I don't think any teams upgraded their wind tunnels significantly last year to try and beat Merc's development. Assuming Brawn had access to sufficient windtunnel facility probably from Honda era?
Mclaren spent a lot of resource turning around their lemon F1 car halfway through the season. Resources which otherwise could have been used to develop the 2010 car. Likewise RBR spent quite a bit of effort fighting for the championship later last season. They were also caught out by the double diffuser issue, another resource draining issue.
Ferrari seemed to be smart enough to recognize that 2009 wasn't working out and decided to focus on 2010 car early. However they seem to have other issues as well.
So by that token, my money is on MercGP. And it's clear that Schumi feels that the car is good enough to be a championship contender. For someone who has won 7 WDC.. coming back just to win races is not motivating. He probably wants to hit the record books again by being the first 40+ year old to win a WDC. That's a worthwhile challenge. Probably even worth dying in action for.
Having worked with Shumi for the past 5 years with the scarlet coloured team, it is very proud of seeing him racing again. Best more, he may once again retire, when the time is right, in a Malaysia sponsored company…PETRONAS.
SYABAS…Petronas Motorsports !!
schumi is back and this is one of the best strategy petronas has ever done !
y is Murray said mercedes back in black, red and silver?? How bout green?? Nyanyuk ke??
how come they not no.1…i thought brawn won both constructors and drivers championship last year
Schumi wearing huge Petronas logo on his chest. Is AY still sulking?
No.1 is always kept by the driver's championship winner and not retained by the team. That number gonna look good on this F1 car for the 2011/2012 season…Schumacher ist der Kaiser!
Mazda MPS,
No. 1 sticks with the driver and not the team.
congratulation for that…. now i'm waiting for PROTON to create a racing car for F1…
Even though the green stripes are minimal, it's tastefully placed and the word petronas is the largest of all. I'm totally behind petronas with their decision on mercedes. Those who think they're not patriotic are cynical hillbillies and have small penises.
the same F1 car will appear in front of our very own eyes this thursday at klcc!
More interested to see the real 2010 car. This is just the 2009 BrawnGP car liveried to MercGP colours
wow.. its gonna be a fierce competition for this year.. bye2 ferari.. helo to merc.. hahaha.. hail schumi!!
i support petronas sponsor this team instead of lotus for one reason, they can get more publicity with mercedes than lotus. they also can make more money by associated petronas with mercedes. remember when they sponsor BMW, they use BMW as the vehicle to promote their TV adds. i expect petronas will use mercedes in their future TV adds. hopefully petronas will continuously making big money as our country lacking of world class business that can support national growth. i can't emagine what will happen to this country when petronas bankrupt as they are the major contribution to the government income.
Shumi & Ross perfect match
Well done Petronas. Makes F1 more exciting with schumi back.
wow very amazing!!!! Fantastic Petronas(Schumi Ex – Driver Ferrari -Shell) VS Shell (Massa Ex-driver Sauber Petronas)
wow! amazing!!! Fantastic Petronas VS Shell….. Like be Schumi ( ex-ferrari Shell VS Massa (ex- Sauber Petronas)