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At last week’s test session at the Circuit de Catalunya, Renault claimed to have made a major step forward. They just didn’t know how it would compare to those made by their opposition. On Saturday, Fernando Alonso gave them the answer, as he took a spectacular second place in Barcelona qualifying.

Yes, the former champion’s R28 may well have been running light, but after such a disappointing start to the season for the French team, beating BMW Sauber and McLaren, and losing out to Ferrari by a mere tenth of a second, will come as a major fillip.

“Today’s result made me very happy,” said Alonso. “The best day for me of the 2008 season and I hope there are many more like this to come. The team has been doing a tremendous job since Bahrain.

"We have had a difficult and disappointing start to the season, and today is the first step ahead. We have an aggressive approach for the races to come in order to return to the level we should be at. It is not the time to relax, and instead we are even more motivated to work hard to get where we need to be.”

Pat Symonds, Renault’s executive director of engineering added: “A great result today, which vindicates all the hard work that has gone on back at base in the first few months of the year. It’s great to see both cars in the top ten and Fernando’s position at his home circuit is particularly welcome. But let’s not forget the great job that Nelson (Piquet) has done - he’s been with Fernando all the way through the weekend and makes it a great team result.”

With Piquet starting Sunday’s race from tenth on the grid, Renault’s performance on Saturday is the team's best qualifying showing of the season.