Merc's F1 launchposted in F101 | 02 | 2011

MERCEDES GP officially launched its new MGP W02 chassis in Valencia today ahead of the opening session of the three-day test in Spain. We showed the head-on 'teaser' pic on Scotcars earlier.

The principal features of the car include changes to the airbox and sidepods, plus the higher nose that has been common on 2011 chassis so far. And as was hinted at in the teaser pic, the livery has also received slight adjustments with a larger amount of green colouring for title sponsor Petronas.

Both Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher are scheduled to drive the car today, with the seven-times world champ eager to see whether the W02 will prove better-suited to his style than last year's machine.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news by following us on twitter.com/scotcars

Jim McGill