Renault want to prove Alonso wrong

With the team heading into the new season knowing that the reigning World Champion has already agreed a deal to move to their main rivals at the end of the year, Renault's F1 president Patrick Faure has outlined his ambition to prove Alonso has made the wrong decision.

Faure wants Renault to be so dominant this year that Alonso will be forced to think again about his move.

"Maybe if we have extremely good results this year he will wonder whether he made the right decision," said Faure. "That is what we are going to try to do. And if after that he wants to keep going to McLaren then it will be easy to have a target for 2007."

Faure claims that the announcement of Alonso's departure to McLaren has only served to increase Renault's determination at their Enstone and Viry-Chatillon factories to reclaim their titles this year

When asked at the team launch whether the team's concentration had been knocked by Alonso's defection, he said: "No. I think it is exactly the contrary at the moment. I have never seen Viry as motivated as they are now because they really want to win this year.

"First of all because they want to win but secondly because they want to prove he was wrong to want to change teams. In Enstone and Viry they are really 120 percent pushing... it is fascinating that they are more motivated this year than they were 12 months ago."

Despite fully understanding Alonso's desire to find a new challenge with McLaren, Faure has expressed some disappointment at the way the deal was made public so early. His comment comes after Renault boss Flavio Briatore said McLaren had lacked 'class' in the way they handled the affair.

"The timing was not exactly very friendly, but at the end of the day we can live with that," explained Faure. "It is nothing dramatic in it. The thing that I am really sorry about is the timing and the way it was done.

"It could have been done some months later and us knowing it a bit earlier to prepare ourselves. But that is details and it is finished now."