Launch Season is Finally here!!

Arriving slightly later than usual the launch season finally got underway today with Mercedes GP. Probably one of the more eagerly anticipated launches I was delighted to finally get to see the first Mercedes F1 car in 55 years in its all new livery. A lot of talk has surrounded the drivers and there statuses within the team. Now its no secret the Schumacher is used to having the number 1 status within the team (Johnny Herbert and Rubens Barrichello will let you know how it feels to be playing second fiddle) and Rosberg has made no secret of his concern over whether the drivers will be equal and as far as the team personnel is concerned it seems that that is the way things will be. But Schumacher's desire to changed his number 4 to Rosberg's number 3 has raised a few eyebrows including my own. His official reason is that he feels odd numbers are lucky. (Me thinks not!!) This is a little game Schumi likes to play. "Mind Games". Something which he perfected during his 16 year career in F1. I often think if Schumacher was a football manager it would be quite a show seeing him "speak" it off with Alex Ferguson. But you do get the impression that Rosberg may be trying to take the game to Schumi with regards mind games. When questioned about Schumacher's return he laughed off any worries about favouritism or the number changing. He is quoted as saying: "When I win in Bahrain, we will care less about the number which is on my car and more about the driver who's inside it!" When I win in Bahrain??? Its natural for a driver to talk up his chances at the start of a season but surely there is a line you should refrain from crossing!! The guy is going up against arguably the best driver in the history of F1 not to mention a number of other past world champions without a victory to his name and he thinks victory in Round 1 is a given? Nico, I think you need to be a bit more careful in the way you handle the media as most of them don't take any prisoners should things go wrong. For all you nostalgic hardcore motor sport fans it was something special to see Schumacher back in Mercedes overalls. (Mercedes of course helped his career massively in the days before Formula 1 even helping him get a seat with Jordan) Of course it is important to note that it was only the livery that was unveiled today (displayed on the old Brawn Gp), its also worth pointing out that Schumacher is back with his old buddy Ross Brawn and we all know how much of a success that partnership is and I've no doubt that that success will not have diminished!!! We are going to have to wait another week before we can see the new car in all its glory. Next up will be the new Ferrari unveiled on Thursday. That will start the main group of launches happening over next weekend. You won't want to miss it!!