- Valencia Testing
Mercedes will be at the top - Rosberg
ESPNF1 Staff
February 5, 2010
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Nico Rosberg is happy with the new Mercedes despite setting the ninth fastest time in Valencia © Getty Images
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Nico Rosberg has no concerns about Mercedes performance at this week's test in Valencia.
On Thursday team principal Ross Brawn revealed that the new car was slightly off the pace over the three days, but would be fixing some of its minor faults in order to make up ground at the next test in Jerez. Rosberg, who was ninth fastest overall in Valencia, sees no reason to worry about the competition and thinks F1's pecking order will become clearer in the coming weeks.
"At the Jerez tests the veil will continue to be lifted and a more detailed picture will emerge, we will certainly be at the top," he told German newspaper Bild, which also reported that Mercedes may have been sandbagging with heavy fuel loads to disguise its true pace.
Its competition director Norbert Haug told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport: "At the first test, Ferrari did the best job of those teams in attendance. At the next test, and later at the first race, it may be a quite different story."
Ferrari too has downplayed the significance of its impressive lap times, with team boss Stefano Domenicali saying he was more impressed by the F10's reliability rather than its overall speed.
"There are no miracles in Formula One: if you want to be fast you have to work hard for months and months and then you'll meet your competitors, who have as much capacities and are as motivated as you," he told the official Ferrari website. "We can't take anything for granted and we shouldn't delude ourselves by indications, which could be completely misleading. Maybe someone also wants to play hide and seek, and some still have to present their cars.
"If there is one thing we're really satisfied with then it's the reliability the car has shown. More than 1,400 kilometres [870 miles] driven is a very good start and we need to ensure that the intense work at the test stands and bears fruit."
Red Bull, Force India and Virgin Racing will all make their group test debuts in Jerez, after spending the last week developing their cars in their UK bases.
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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