Alonso encouraged by Renault showing

The Spaniard equalled his best result of the year with a fourth place finish, following a long battle with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and after keeping McLaren's Lewis Hamilton at bay in the final part.

"We fought hard today and we were on the pace with a car that was working well, which is encouraging for the rest of the championship," said Alonso.

"We scored some important points which is satisfying, even though we could have maybe been on the podium. We must now continue working hard, but today's result shows that we are moving in the right direction."

Teammate Nelsinho Piquet completed a good weekend for the French squad, the Brazilian finishing in sixth position.

"I am happy with my result this weekend," he said. "I scored some valuable points which is promising for the rest of the season. I made a good start, but unfortunately I made a small mistake on the first lap, which meant that I lost the two positions that I had made up.

"It shows that at this level you cannot afford to make the smallest error. I am continuing to learn and I am determined to continue building on this progress when we go to Valencia at the end of the month."

Today's result allowed Renault to move into fifth place in the standings, four points behind Toyota.