Alonso pins hopes on Barcelona upgrade

Fernando Alonso says the Renault team are pinning all their hopes of a decent season on the improvements to be introduced in the next race in Spain.

The Spaniard and his team have failed to show the kind of pace necessary to fight near the front and, after finishing fourth in Australia and eighth in Malaysia, the two-time champion had to settle for a distant 10th in Bahrain on Sunday.

Renault plan to introduce significant updates for the Spanish Grand Prix, in the hope that they will help the team take a step forward in performance.

“I think the whole team knows we need to improve as quickly as possible because nobody likes to complete 58 laps in 10th place or 11th,” Alonso told Spanish network Telecinco after the Sakhir race.

“So all our hopes are pinned on the improvements we have for Barcelona. If that goes wrong, then we are going to have to start to worry for the rest of the season.”

The Spanish driver, a two-time winner in Bahrain admitted he was not surprised not to be able to score any points today.

“It was nothing we didn`t expect,” he said of his result. “We knew that we wouldn`t be too quick in the race and so we started tenth and finished tenth.”

Alonso was involved in a crash with Lewis Hamilton at the start of the race, the Briton crashing into the back of his Renault, damaging the rear wing.

The Renault driver said, however, that the accident had not affected his car too much.

“A little bit,” he said. “There was some damage to the rear wing, but the car wasn`t handling too badly compared to practice and qualifying. It was more or less the same so I don`t think I could have done much more.

“The McLaren was just a lot faster than my car and he crashed into me.”

6.4.2008   ▪ Formula One    ▪ Alonso    ▪ www.autosport.com