Renault 'buoyed' by Alonso's podium

Fernando Alonso finished in third place in Singapore on Sunday, less than a week after his team was handed a suspended two-year ban for having being involved in a race-fixing scandal in last year's race.

The Spaniard dedicated his podium to former Renault boss Flavio Briatore, banned from Formula 1 after the row.

Bell, the man replacing Briatore, said the result was wonderful for the team after such a difficult period.

"Today was absolutely fantastic," said Bell. "It's wonderful to get a podium at any time but to get one after what the team has just been through is really positive and gives us great strength to move on now.

"Unfortunately Romain had more brake problems which put him out of the race early on. It's clear he has a lot of potential for the future and he just needs to move on from this race and make sure he completes a solid race in Japan.

"Everybody in the team will now go to the final three races very buoyed by this result because it shows that the team can fight for the podium."

Managing director Jean-Francois Caubet added: "To end the weekend with a podium is a great result. When we arrived here on Wednesday we did not think it was achievable, but little-by-little we have made it possible. In the end the race team put together a strategy that worked very well today.

"It's great to get a podium here and it's extremely important for Renault, for our partner TOTAL and for our sponsors, and for Renault F1 team. We showed that Renault F1 has what it takes to fight at the front."