Rosberg delighted with new Mercedes

Although Rosberg had to park the car with a hydraulic issue early on, he said he had learned enough to know that he liked the W02.

"The positive thing was I just felt at home straight away - felt at one with the car," said Rosberg. "It didn't feel like a different car that I don't know, it feels very nice. That's a very important thing straight away, to feel comfortable.

"Then the initial impression, it's difficult to compare obviously because with the Pirelli tyres I just did one test back in November, so it's a different track and difficult [to compare]. But the general impression was very good."

He reckons changes behind the scenes at Mercedes GP have clearly paid off in the new car's design.

"I think it's just a better car in general," said Rosberg.

"The company has become much stronger. Ross [Brawn] has reorganised the company, put different people in different positions, he's improved the communication between the car and the engine group, so the whole car is a big step forward for us, and it all starts with the way the company is working.

"There's going to be a lot more to come with the aerodynamics in the next few weeks, and then we'll make quite a lot of progress, like many other teams too, I guess."

Rosberg is sure his own performances will be much stronger now he has had a full year to settle in at Mercedes as well.

"For sure the past season helped me gain even more confidence and I feel comfortable in the team," he said.

"Last year it was a new team and it's a process to really integrate yourself into the team, and that's been going really well, so I go into this season and really look forward to it because I think I'll be able to perform really well - better than last year. Which, with a decent car, should give us some very strong results."

He also played down suggestions that he might have a tougher time staying ahead of team-mate Michael Schumacher if the seven-time champion was back to his best form this year.

"Who's saying that it wasn't the old Michael last year...?" Rosberg said. "Michael is driving a Silver Arrow, and the combination of that and a seven times world champion, you always have to reckon with that, even though, yes he had a bit more of a difficult season last year.

"But it's one year further down the road and I go into it expecting that it's going to be tough to beat him again."