Ross Brawn says he is 'pretty pleased' with the W04 after it made its track debut

Ross Brawn says he will have a good idea of how competitive the W04 will be by the end of the Jerez test and has downplayed speculation over his future at the team.

Mercedes have opted for a partial 'vanity panel' to cover the stepped nose and Brawn says it is a performance piece, rather than cosmetic. "Everything has to pay for itself - a Formula 1 team are not too worried about the aesthetics of the car," he explained. "In our case that panel, which is very lightly constructed, pays for itself and we gained more performance from it than we lost from the weight. "Obviously other people have found other solutions - I see McLaren have gone for a high nose compared to the low nose last year. There are a whole variety of solutions but for us it pays for itself." That is not the only part Brawn hopes will give them an advantage with a new front wing due to arrive once testing gets underway. "We haven't got it on the car, but we do have quite an interesting front wing which we will have later in the week and we have a number of exhaust solutions we want to try in these next few tests as that is an area we weren't strong enough in last year," the Team Principal said. "We didn't understand what was going on and to find better solutions in that area we have a number to try this week." Lewis Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 he didn't feel he had had a chance yet to influence the design of the W04, but Brawn says his new recruit has helped to add a new viewpoint in the factory. "In the short space of time he has been pushing very hard," the 58-year-old said. "He is very motivated and very committed and that is very exciting for a lot of the engineers - it is always interesting when you get a different perspective on things. We worked with Nico and Michael (Schumacher) for a long time and Lewis has brought a different perspective to things. I am really impressed with his level of professionalism and we are now getting to know Lewis in the car." With the arrival of Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff at the Silver Arrows and speculation Paddy Lowe could follow Hamilton from McLaren, the paddock rumour-mill had suggested Brawn could be on his way out. However, Brawn says he plans on remaining with the team for the foreseeable future. "Formula 1 like any top-level sport is dynamic and if the team doesn't perform you have to make changes," he said. "I am here for the foreseeable future, we have done these engineering changes and I want to see their performance and a step forward in that respect. If we move forward and are successful then things will be simple - if we don't then things will get complicated. "I'm very excited and motivated by what we have put together and the restructuring and I want to make sure we take full advantage of it."