The return of the king

At first we didn't believe him. We had become all too aware of what a political animal Fernando Alonso could be after his annus miserabilis at McLaren in 2007, so all his elaborate talk of downplaying Renault's form on his return to the team was just interpreted as part of the action plan.

Only by playing things down could Alonso hope to catch the opposition unawares, and return Renault to the winners' circle.

For sure it was too much to expect Alonso's homecoming to instantly deliver the same form that had delivered back-to-back world titles in 2005 and 2006, but a big step forward would surely see them fighting up there at the front for much of the season just gone.

But we were wrong. Alonso's fourth place in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix perhaps raised expectations too much, even though it was obvious it had been helped by Ferrari's hiccups and the fact that Robert Kubica was forced out after a collision with Kazuki Nakajima.

In reality, as Alonso had been telling us in the build-up to the campaign, Renault were still a long way from the top. Just getting podiums would be a dream come true, let alone fighting for wins and the world championship.

The root cause of Renault's problems could be traced all the way back to the end of Michelin's era in F1. The concept of their cars had been so at one with the French rubber that when the enforced switch to Bridgestone took place at the start of 2007, the team found it hard to adapt.

There were aerodynamic complications caused by the different shape of the tyres; plus some wind tunnel calibration problems which meant figures that looked good on computer screens did not transfer to lap time out on the track.

Fernando Alonso leaves the garage in the Renault R28 © LAT

It took Renault much of 2007 to fully get to grip with these issues, and a legacy of the efforts in curing the problems was that the team fell behind their rivals in terms of out-and-out car development. Alonso, who had been at the cutting edge of progress with McLaren last year, knew as much as soon as he got his hands on the R28.

And it was not just aerodynamically that the team had lost out. Renault was a key driving force in introducing an engine freeze to the sport - and had been the keenest to capitalise on the freeze by cutting back drastically on their engineering staff at their Viry-Chatillon factory.

It was only on Alonso's return that the team realised other teams had been making 'reliability' improvements to their engines throughout the freeze - which had the added knock-on benefit of improving horsepower and driveability.

The spread was in tens of horsepower but, with the field as competitive as it is these days, it was enough to make a big difference. It forced the team to have to run less wing on the straights, which meant less downforce/grip for the corners - so the lap time suffered.

Work at Renault was therefore proceeding on two fronts. On the engine side the staff led by Rob White did what they could to try and eek out more performance - which could explain in part why Alonso suffered a rare failure at the Spanish Grand Prix after what would prove to be his only front row start of the season.

On the car front, work was progressing at speed. Alonso had helped deliver a renewed belief in the team - his 100 percent commitment on the track giving staff members all the motivation they needed to go the extra mile in the wind tunnel or at the factory to get things done.

It was not all plain sailing though. Signs of frustration surfaced as Alonso failed to see any notable progress in their form over the middle part of the season. There was the collision with Nick Heidfeld at Monaco, the spin in Canada - and getting beaten on track by Nelson Piquet in France and Hockenheim.

It was clear the man ready to go to war with former team boss Ron Dennis over being number one at McLaren was not going to be satisfied for long qualifying at the lower end of the top ten and merely fighting for points.

He wanted more - and the vultures in the F1 paddock began to circle in an attempt to pick him off. Alonso had half an eye on an opportunity at Ferrari, but matters were not being helped by Felipe Massa proving throughout the season that he was more than just a capable number two.

And it was Autosport who revealed after the Canadian Grand Prix that Ross Brawn and Honda were plotting a big attempt to lure Alonso on board for 2008.

Alonso himself was pretty much a free agent. Part of his agreement in the rush to return to Renault was that he could leave the team if they did not achieve third place in the constructors' championship. BMW Sauber had effectively put paid to those ambitions from the first race - so Renault faced the task of convincing Alonso what they could do for the future, not what they could do now.

Flavio Briatore and Fernando Alonso © LAT

And that was pretty much how it played out. By the middle of the season, Flavio Briatore appeared to be winning his battle to convince the FIA to get some form of engine equalisation introduced. The R28 made big progress too. And just as BMW Sauber were drifting away from McLaren and Ferrari, so Renault appeared to be filling that gap.

The Belgian Grand Prix marked the true start of Alonso's real Renault return - indeed he scored more points in the final third of the season than anyone else.

There were still weaknesses in the package - and engine power remained a factor - but now Alonso could sense the improvement, so too he seemed to lift his own game.

That was why there was such heartbreak in qualifying at Singapore when he sensed a potential pole position slip through his grasp thanks to a fuel feed issue. So too perhaps why (with the help of a little bit of safety car luck) he was so phenomenal in the race - inch perfect against the barriers, brilliant at the final safety car restart and controlled to the flag.

By this stage of course the Ferrari dream was over - Kimi Raikkonen had exercised a clause in his contract to keep him there until the end of 2010. And with Renault now hitting top form, was it really going to be worth gambling on a switch to Honda - who would still take a year or two to get full up to speed?

Alonso made it two wins on the trot in Japan, capitalising brilliantly on the first corner shenanigans, before adding further points scoring finishes in China and Brazil.

It was the end to the season he wanted - and all the doubts that had surfaced in his mind mid-season had been erased by the time he flew out of Brazil having fully committed his future to Renault.

On track the team appeared to have finally laid to rest all of the negative consequences of that switch to Bridgestone. The team were now fully back in control of understanding and exploiting their machinery - as they had proved with the consistent development of the car through the season.

The horsepower deficit at the end of the year did not seem as crippling as it had been before. Whether this was improved drag characteristics or tweaked horsepower was unclear but, as the winter season started, an increased push for engine equality meant there was unlikely to be any issue here for 2009.

On the financial front too, there seemed no handicap for the team any more. Briatore had openly spoken about having secured a bigger budget out of Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn, while the team's capture of fourth place in the constructors' championship will have added more to their coffers for 2009.

Alonso and Renault have both had a turbulent 18 months since they captured the 2006 world championship at Brazil in 2006. But the dream team partnership again appears back on track.

And if they start talking in such an upbeat manner about it this winter, we had better believe it.