After securing two successive world crowns in 2005 and 2006, Renault scored just one podium finish last season, courtesy of Heikki Kovalainen, who has now moved to rivals at McLaren, during the rain drenched Japanese Grand Prix.

However, that said, Pat Symonds, director of engineering for the French based squad, is convinced that the errors made with their 2007 contender have been overcome and now they are ready to return to their winning ways, especially with two time world champion, Fernando Alonso, back behind the wheel.

"We are confident that we have overcome the problems with last year's car," says Symonds. "I don't think Fernando would have made up for those deficiencies last year and we are desperate to give him a car that his talent deserves this year. I'm sure that the combination of Fernando in a revitalised Renault will see him challenging for wins. Fernando knows what he wants from the car, and we have shown in the past that we can deliver that."

The R28 has shown good reliability since its launch, however, it is not up to the speed shown by rivals at Ferrari and McLaren with a month to go before the start of the season. All is not lost though as an aggressive development program should see them close the gap to their main rivals by the time the cars head down under.