Alonso Expects Big Points in Spain

Fernando Alonso admitted that heading back to Spain for the first European rounds of this year's Formula 1 championship can only motivate him to finally bring home some big points for Renault. However, it's not only the support of his home crowd to boost his hopes for the Barcelona race, but also the newly-developed parts to be introduced on his R29 ahead of this weekend.

“It's always very special to race in Spain and I'm lucky to have two races at home this year in Barcelona and Valencia. Seeing the support of the fans always gives me a boost and I just hope that I can make them happy and have a strong weekend. It will be difficult to fight for the podium, but hopefully we can qualify well and score some big points in the race,” said Alonso in an official preview of the Spanish Grand Prix.

As confirmed by Renault's chief engineer Pat Symonds, the team will debut a new version of the double diffuser, in addition to other downforce-boosting feature. The R29 will also be fitted with new wheel fairing and a revised rear wing.

Alonso revealed he'll only push for a better know-how of his car's setup during the Friday practice, while the R29's true pace is to be expected starting the Saturday qualifying.

“All the teams know the track well as we do so much testing there in the winter. We tested there in February, but obviously we have developed the car a lot since then so we will need to work on the set-up during free practice.”

“We are still missing some performance at the moment but the team has really improved the car already this season so we are certainly moving in the right direction. Hopefully we can take another step forward this weekend,” added the Spaniard.