London: Mercedes plan to run their 2012 car for the first time at the second test of the season in Barcelona on February 21, the Formula One team said on Monday.
Mercedes also announced that their official team name would change to Mercedes AMG Petronas to bring in Mercedes-Benz performance brand AMG.
AMG already supplies the sport with both the safety car and medical car.
"At the factory, we have been focussed for some time on the challenge of 2012, and our very clear ambition to move forward up the grid next year," said team principal Ross Brawn in a statement.
"As always, the winter development and manufacturing processes are a trade-off between time for finding performance in the factory, and time for delivering that performance during pre-season testing.
"We believe that the decision to run the car at the second winter test is the optimum compromise for our design and development programme with F1 W03."
Mercedes finished the 2011 season fourth overall with German drivers Nico Rosberg and seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher.
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