Formula One: Are Renault Really On The Rise?

After a poor 2007 season in the f1 championship for Renault, they were heading into the new 2008 season with high hopes of a return to form.  Those expectations where higher with the return of former champion Fernando Alonso to the team.

Pre season testing looked good, with Renault looking faster then a year ago, and Alonso seemed a much relaxed driver after the troubles of last year with Mclaren.    As the teams got ready for the season opener at Australia, Alonso said the team were still around a second behind Ferrari and Mclaren, by the time qualifying came around it looked spot on.

Australia was a baptism of fire for Renault with Fernando and new team mate Nelson Piquet both struggling to make it into quali 3, in the end result Fernando managed  12th and Piquet a disappointing 21st on his first ever grand prix.                             
The team had hoped to be the fighting with Bmw, but after there poor pre season testing, they shocked rivals with there speed in the opening race, raising fears that the team had fallen back even further, even with Alosno's apparent 6 tenths that he brings to a car.

The race looked alot hope full for the team, after a first corner pile up, Alonso finished 4th while Piquet retired. But Alonso result was mainly down the mistakes and reliability problems of other drivers

Malaysia didn't have much improvement, even after Alonso gets through to quali 3, with Piquet looking faster then the previous race.  The race wasn't better, Alonso had a race long scrap for 8th place, and eventually finished there.

Could things get any worse?

Well they did, in Bahrain both drivers struggled with the cars poor pace, Alonso again made it into the top ten of qualifying, but only just in 10th place with Piquet 14th.  The race was worse with Piquet retiring near the end and Alonso's race was ruined by a clash with rival Lewis Hamilton, and ending the race not in the points.

Alonso was apparently unhappy, he knew things would be hard, but not this hard, with the car looking terrible. His future was in doubt as Renault, as he a clause which lets him leave the team if the team does not finish 4th or higher in the constructors championship, Alonso was looking into the possibility of moving to Ferrari for 2009.

The teams geared up for the start of the European races, and back to Alonso home race in Barcelona. with the 3 week break, teams used that time to test new parts and developing their car, Renault saying they had made alot of progress, how much though.

Practise looked good, with Alonso looking to provide a treat for his loyal fans, its nearly happened, in qualifying, for the first time this year both drivers made it into the top ten and Alonso wanted more, he took provisional pole, which stunned rival teams, but he was beaten in the final moments by Kimi Raikkonen, even so, this was better then expected.  The team admitted that Alonso was a on low fuel stragery, but even so, the car looked alot faster. The race started ok, he was down to third as Felipe massa overtook him, while his team mate piquet went into the gravel trap, ending hopes of a double points finish, even after Alonso's first pit stop, he was keeping up with the Mclaren's and Bmw's but his luck changed, and engine problem ended hopes of big points, his fans hearts broken, after what looked like the Renault team where back.

The signs are good, recently in an interview with Executive Director Pat Symonds, saying the team had gained 3 tenths on the top 3 teams, and now they could run with the Bmw's and Mclaren's.

The next race in Turkey will reveal all, can the team challenge the top 3 and stay there? 

If this is true will we eventually have a 4 way battle?, even though Ferrari look unbeatable,  time will tell.