Renault confident they can win in Spain

"All things being equal, I think we can win that one," Renault's head of engineering Pat Symonds told Reuters after Sunday's European Grand Prix.

Champion Alonso finished second at the Nurburgring but remains 13 points clear of Schumacher in the standings.

Schumacher's Ferrari uses Bridgestone tyres while Renault are with Michelin, who dominated last season and won the first three races of 2006.

"It is quite a tyre-focused battle at the moment and therefore things can swing one way or the other quite quickly," said Symonds.

"We had a great test there (in Barcelona) a month ago, we were very quick, but Ferrari were good on the long runs. It's another chapter of the book, but perhaps a slightly more typical one," he added.

"As far as the cars go, Barcelona does sort out the good from the bad but if there's a tyre difference the car won't overcome it."

Alonso has been on the podium for the past 11 races and has yet to finish lower than second in five races this season.

He finished second at the Circuit de Catalunya last year to McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen and second in 2003 to seven times world champion Schumacher.

The race will be sold out, with 130,000 fans expected on race day in the expectation of witnessing the first victory by a Spanish driver on home soil.

"I think Barcelona will be a good point, because we have always been quick there in testing," said Alonso. "Michelin has been in a dominant position in Barcelona over the last two years, so I'm really looking forward to winning that one."

The Spaniard will not want to delve too deeply into the statistics however.

While Michelin were victorious last year with Raikkonen, Schumacher's Bridgestone-shod Ferrari won at the circuit in the previous four years.

"I think it's not a surprise that Ferrari are fighting," said Alonso. "I expect McLaren will arrive also. Honda are really strong in some races, so nothing changes from the beginning of the championship.

"There are four teams, sometimes one is quicker, sometimes another one is slower, but all four teams are strong and ready to fight....I think in the next two races Michelin will be stronger than Bridgestone."