Another team rather confident about their KERS, Renault didn't show much pre-season pace until the very last few sessions where Alonso overhauled the seemingly invincible Brawn GP off the timesheets.

Yet that lap in Jerez was set on a ridiculously low fuel load, more to assuage team boss Flavio Briatore than anything else. Yet while they look like midfield-runners this year, they are a team known for catching up fast.