Formula 1: Photos from the first F1 test

Michael Schumacher grinned happily into the cameras and enjoyed the presentation of the new Silver Arrow. After the mechanic rolled his company car out of the box shortly before 9.00 a.m. on Monday morning, the record world champion of Formula 1 posed for the large crowd of photographers together with his teammate Nico Rosberg. But above all, the focus is on the new M GP W01 , the first company-owned Silver Arrow in 55 years, with which Rosberg started at 10:36 on the maiden voyage on the Ciruit Ricardo Tormo.

Buemi makes the start in Valencia

And therefore not the first, but the last. The official tests started in 2010 Toro Rosso . No sooner had the traffic lights turned green and the signal sounded than Sebastien Buemi let the engine of the new Red Bull racer roar.

It was followed by Ferrari with Felipe Massa, and the Brazilian was the only one to do a full and not just one installation lap. This was followed by McLaren-Mercedes with test and reserve driver Gary Paffet, Williams with Rubens Barrichello and Sauber with Pedro de la Rosa. After a brief standstill on the track, Renault newcomer Robert Kubica followed.

Rosberg is taking his time

And the new Mercedes? The media representatives waited eagerly in front of the pit of the Brawn successor team. The first half hour of the tests passed without the maiden voyage of the MGP W01, so the official name.

What is striking about the matt silver racing car: the hump-shaped, curved nose, similar to the successful Red Bull last season. The aerodynamics strategists at Mercedes did without the conspicuous fin, as for example in McLaren, Renault and also Sauber in their cars - by the way, as did their colleagues from Ferrari. The paintwork was shown to the public in Stuttgart a week ago.

Schumacher will take over in the afternoon

Schumacher will take over the cockpit during the day. For the 41-year-old, it will be the first laps in a Formula 1 car since last summer. The first official test drives this year will last until Wednesday. The Kerpener will make his racing comeback afterabout three and a half years break on March 14th in Bahrain. It will be the 251st race of his unique career.