Symonds: Renault form vital morale boost

After a disappointing time in the first three races of the year, a revamped R28 allowed Alonso to challenge for pole position at Barcelona in his strongest showing of the season so far.

And although the team are not yet able to deliver the form that helped them to world titles in 2005 and 2006, Symonds believes their speed this weekend is significant in helping the team move forward.

When asked by autosport.com if it was important for both the team members and Alonso to see evidence of their progress, Symonds said: "Very. It is very important."

"I always used to say that each race was worth the same, you had the same number of points at each event," he added. "But something I realised in 2005 and 2006 is that actually the early part of the season is much more important in terms of motivation and everything.

"So having gone through a year like 2007 and, let's face it, a disappointing start to 2008, it was important to us this weekend to get things back.

"We are not where we want to be though, so let's not get too excited. Let's not pretend it is anything it isn't, but let's enjoy the moment."

Although Symonds concedes that Alonso is lighter on fuel than his closest rivals on the grid, he thinks the team's tactic could pay dividends with the field so competitive.

"It is very, very tight, which is why an aggressive strategy might be pretty damn good," explained Symonds. "I feel we are out racing the way we used to race, where we didn't just follow the trend.

"We went out and did some interesting things and in the past we profited a lot from it. I hope we are in that situation again because it is that close. Let's see."

He added: "But I still think a podium will be a very difficult thing to do. I still have to think that there are six cars that are potentially quicker than us. I don't think McLaren have had a great weekend to be honest, so let's see where we are. And there is a bit of a split in the BMWs this weekend, so it is a little bit hard to judge.

"But a podium? If you consider that Ferrari, given their reliability, should lock out first and second then that is a lot of cars going for that final step of the podium."