Ross Brawn: “I am confident we are in a good position”

Mercedes GP boss Ross Brawn is confident that the team has made a big step since last season, and is in good shape heading to Melbourne.

The team has been stuck in fourth place for the past two years, but Brawn is clearly optimistic.

“We are well prepared, both at the factory and on track, as a result of our structured development and testing plan,” he said in a Melbourne preview. “And I am confident that we are in a good position. How this translates to our performance relative to the competition is, of course, the key question and it will be interesting to see how it all shapes out next weekend.

“My thanks to all of the team at Brackley and Brixworth for their hard work
and dedication over the winter months and I hope we will be able to reward them with a strong season.”

Norbert Haug added: “Starting the third season with our Silver Arrows works team, we think we are better prepared than the two years before, which indicates that our learning process is heading in the right direction. The Mercedes F1 W03 has run reliably since its first run on 16 February, completed 4,450 km during pre-season testing, and achieved an average daily testing mileage of 472 km – this equates to an average of more than one and a half Grand Prix distances during each of the nine test days.

“After testing, we know we have a solid basis to work from and a good platform for development. Understandably, there is much speculation about the pecking order of the new season, and finally we will get a first answer on Saturday afternoon during qualifying in Melbourne, when everybody has to put their cards on the table.”