Mercedes GP launches inaugural W01 challenger in Valencia

We've seen the mock-up, now it's time for the real thing. After having previewed the team livery on last year's championship-winning Brawn GP car (that's both championships, thank you very much), the newly christened Mercedes GP car – dubbed MGP W01 – was officially unveiled today in Valencia, where half the F1 teams are gathered right now for the first official test session of the season.

The livery has already revealed both the color scheme – reminiscent of the famous pre-war Silver Arrow grand prix cars of yore and lore – as well as the successful poaching of Malaysian state oil company (and longtime Sauber sponsor) Petronas. The biggest surprise, then, (to insiders at least) is the nose design, which reportedly cribs from the snout on the Red Bull car that challenged the team for top honors last year.

Nico Rosberg is taking the car out for its debut test today ahead of teammate Michael Schumacher, who will be driving a contemporary F1 car for the first time in three years today. With the Ferrari, McLaren, Renault and Mercedes cars now revealed, stay tuned for the rest, and check out the press release after the jump and the first batch of images in the gallery below.

[Source: Mercedes GP]