Alonso Urges Renault to Up Game for Spanish GP

After insisting Renault had a Top 5 car during last week's Chinese Grand Prix, team boss Flavio Briatore convinced himself on where the Renault R29 really stands in terms of on track performance. Fernando Alonso confirmed he drove on his maximum on Sunday, but all he could squeeze was an 8th place overall.

If, prior to the Bahrain race this weekend, he revealed he has not yet renounced the idea of fighting for the championship, the Spaniard is now urging his team to up their game for the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix. Considering he'll contest ahead of his home crown two weeks from now, the 2-time world champion argued Renault must necessarily improve for their European debut.

“We did our maximum today. The start of the race was not perfect and we lost a position which put me down to eighth. After that nothing unusual happened during the race and there were no retirements so we were eighth fastest and we finished eighth,” said Alonso after the race.

In addition to the lack of pace shown by the R29 at Sakhir, Alonso suffered from intense dehydration during the Sunday race. Competing in torrid conditions, the Spaniard did not benefit from his drink pump through the entire race – as it failed to function – and almost fainted when talking to the media after the race.

“We always aim to score points, but we only scored one point and so we need to improve at the next grand prix,” added the Renault driver.

The Enstone based team will allegedly debut their completely new double diffuser in Barcelona, along with several other aero parts. All teams are expected to heavily revise their 2009 challengers for their European debut two weeks from now.