Nico Rosberg says the first test of the 2016 Formula 1 pre-season is testament to the progress Mercedes has made over the last five years as he it introduced its W07 by showcasing astonishing reliability.

Sharing the car with Lewis Hamilton on the final two days in an effort to break up their work schedules due to the huge mileage they were able to rack up, Rosberg returned for the final afternoon to notch up another 86 laps.

Leaving him with a mammoth personal total of 332 laps - the equivalent of five grands prix over four days -, that combined with Hamilton's 343 lap count left Mercedes with 675 laps of data to analyse ahead of the second test.

Achieved with barely any reliability niggles, though Mercedes refrained from revealing much about the W07's performance as it tested new parts - including a new s-duct front wing -, Rosberg teased it is 'quick'.

"It's generally been positive and reliability is looking good," he said. "It's quick, the car is quick, and I love the way it looks. If you look at it there is some real innovation on there and it's cool that you can really see the progress of how far we've come as a team.

"If you look five years ago we weren't able to make such innovation but now there are so many different things that are ahead of the game. I'm not saying we are definitely the quickest but there is some good stuff on the car and that's impressive.

"I'm looking forward to [low fuel]. Pounding round on mediums with lots of fuel is eventually not going to be so exciting at the end of it. We look forward to taking away some fuel."



Loading Comments...