Renault hopeful of more speed

The team, aiming to bounce back from a disappointing 2007, were unable to show signs of improvement on the timesheets, with Fernando Alonso finishing down in 13th position, over two seconds off the pace.

The day was worse for Nelsinho Piquet, who lost valuable track time after spinning off in the morning. The Brazilian wound up 19th.

Renault's director of engineering Pat Symonds admitted the day had been tough for the team, but he reckons there is still more to come from them.

"A difficult start to our season," said Symonds. "Nelson spun in the first session and our analysis showed there could be damage to the gearbox, so we had to change that, which resulted in him being out late for the second session. He was really on his back foot from there onwards.

"With Fernando we covered a good number of laps and completed a sensible programme. We made some improvements on the balance, but as always there is more to do.

"We feel there is a little bit more potential in the car as the two runs on new tyres were split by traffic. But overall it looks like we are in with the big pack."