Alonso fashions his way back to the top

Thursday's Renault launch contrasted with the shorn hair and smart suit-and-ties that characterised the austerity Alonso so resented at McLaren. He felt among friends again, liberated from his doomed year cast as Lewis Hamilton's turbulent team-mate.

'It's like 2006,' said Alonso, referring to the mood he left behind at the French team. 'Time has not moved. It was easy for me to get back in the car at testing last week. I'm comfortable with everyone.'

The big question is — how will he cope with the man in the other Renault, the rookie Nelson Piquet, son of the Brazilian legend of the same name? Will he pose a threat to Alonso's status as No 1? If so, will the Spaniard throw his prams out of the chassis again?

Piquet was a threat to Hamilton when they competed in GP2 together two years ago, just being pipped to the title by the Briton. Therefore, he has the potential to push Alonso close. And he talked the talk.

'Every driver tries to push and push and push,' said Piquet, 22. 'Who knows if I am going to be quicker? Some tracks will suit him and others me. The best thing is to push for a win and, when I can, to win it.'

It could have been Hamilton speaking a year ago. There were even the same respectful comments about how he was privileged to partner Alonso, a double world champion. He would learn from him, he told us dutifully.

'Lewis did a perfect year,' added Piquet. 'It depends on how good a job the team does and how good the car is whether I can do what he did.'

Perhaps. So it comes down to Briatore's management techniques. Can he apply a loose yet firm touch in the way that Ron Dennis failed to accomplish at McLaren? When it was put to Briatore he said: 'I like fights between drivers and the team.' It was a joke.

Turning serious, he added: 'I don't want to hear about having a No 1, a No 2 or a No 3. You just have to anticipate the problem before it comes.

'We have not discussed it. He knows the way we work in the team. He's a professional, not a lunatic.'

The terms of Alonso's severance deal restrain him from discussing his McLaren hell but he was gushing about Briatore. After all, the Italian manages his business affairs.

'Nelson seems a normal person like me and Flavio is special,' said Alonso. 'He is the best in F1 at controlling situations and I don't foresee any problems.

'The championship is the target. We know it will be difficult but the motivation is high and I hope we can close the gap after where the team were last year.'

Bob Bell, Renault's technical director, who is quietly pleased by the new car, is not given to hyperbole yet he enthused about the 26-year-old Alonso.

He said: 'Fernando has come back so much stronger. Experience has made him a more complete human being. His eyes are wider open and he has more appreciation as to what this team mean.

'His "sabbatical" has done him good.'