Renault's Spain form a 'turning point'

Fernando Alonso qualified on the front row for his home race and, although that performance was helped slightly by an aggressive fuel strategy, it was clear aerodynamic and mechanical updates to the R28 had helped matters.

And Renault head of trackside operations Denis Chevrier was left under no illusions about how important it was for the French car manufacturer to have made a step forward - even though Alonso retired from the race with an engine failure.

"For sure, yes, it's a turning point," he said. "We had desperately needed to show an increase in the slope of our performance.

"We were at a point in the first three races that was too low for the normal range of the team, and we have now shown something really different - something very promising."

But despite his delight at Renault's lift in form in Spain, Chevrier believes it will be just as important for the team to show in the next race in Turkey that their progress is real.

"Now we have to wait ten days to make sure that we're on proper job, and not only have made a particular improvement for Barcelona, a well known circuit," he explained.

"Now we go to another demanding circuit, Turkey, and if again we're able to prove both our drivers can challenge for Q3, it means we are on the step and just waiting for another one to come later on."