Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug says that there are no "big surprises" on the German marque's new Formula One car, despite suggestions that the team's secrecy with their new car was down to a design breakthrough.
Mercedes are finally due to reveal their new W03 car at the Circuit de Catalunya on Tuesday, ahead of the start of the second pre-season test.
The team chose to delay the introduction of their new car to maximise design time, and have already conducted a secretive private test day in Barcelona on Sunday.
The way in which Mercedes have been trying to hide their new car has led to suspicions that the team is planning something striking with their new machine.
"I assume that they want to hide something from the competition," Red Bull design ace Adrian Newey told the Sport Bild publication last week.
"It must be something that can be copied quite quickly, otherwise they wouldn't try so hard to keep it secret."
But Haug suggested on Monday that there was nothing particularly striking about the team's new car, saying that he simply saw the W03 as a "good base" for the team to start from in 2012.
"I don't think that your eye will be caught by any big surprises when you see the car during the unveiling," the German wheezed at the Autosport website.
"But I certainly hope that we have some clever solutions and we have some good ideas incorporated on the car."
He added: "It's a good base to work from and certainly we will not turn the world upside down, but we do need to make a good step [forwards with the W03]."
Mercedes are aiming to step up to race-winning ways in 2012, after a disappointing first two seasons as a works team in 2010 and 2011.
"We had three podium finishes in the first year, but last year we did not head in the right direction," Haug admitted, "We had some highs...but over the course of the year it wasn't good enough.
"To be a regular contender with Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren is quite a task. We need to learn, we need to develop our team in that direction and I'm sure that we can do that."
Mercedes will launch their new car early on Tuesday morning, before Michael Schumacher gives the car a full track debut on the opening day of the Barcelona test.
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