Symonds says Renault will fight for wins

Although Alonso had moved to downplay expectations of the R28, claiming the car is currently one second per lap slower than McLaren and Ferrari, Symonds is more upbeat about the chances for 2008.

In an exclusive interview with this week's Autosport magazine, Symonds is predicting a return to form for Renault after the troubles of last season.

"It's important to make one thing clear: Fernando would not have made up for the deficiencies of last year's car," said Symonds, who is Renault's executive director of engineering.

"But we are now confident that we have overcome those problems and we are desperate to give him a car that his talent deserves.

"I am certain that the combination of Fernando in a revitalized Renault will see him challenging for wins. He knows what he wants from the car and we have shown in the past that we can deliver it."

Symonds blames two factors for Renault's slump last year - the poor correlation between wind tunnel simulation and track performance, plus the aerodynamic effect of the switch from Michelin to Bridgestone.

"We had two separate issues and either one of them would have been troublesome, but the combination of the two was particularly bad.

"In investigating the phenomena we suffered, we trawled back an awful long way and saw that part of the problem of correlation actually started when we were still on Michelin tyres. So we mustn't just point in one direction."