French concern remains 'best-of-the-rest' across the Bosphorus.
Fernando Alonso left the Istanbul Park circuit in high spirits after finishing sixth in the Turkish Grand Prix - insisting that Renault is in increasingly strong shape, even if the Régie's performance didn't quite live up to that of Barcelona two weeks earlier.
The three points registered by the Spaniard have hoisted him up into eighth spot in the drivers' standings, and kept Renault firmly in touch in the battle over fourth place in the constructors' title chase too, with Williams, Red Bull Racing and Toyota. The 26-year-old double Formula 1 World Champion was pleased with both his and the team's performance in Istanbul, after prevailing ahead of Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, David Coulthard and former team-mate Jarno Trulli in a close midfield scrap.
"We were on the pace this weekend and scored some valuable points," Alonso underlined, "which confirms the progress we have made recently that is thanks to the hard work of everyone in the team. I made a good start, which was essential for a strong race and after that everything went smoothly.
"We had a good strategy, the car was well-balanced and there were no problems with the tyres, so I am happy. Now we must continue working hard to catch up with the leading teams, but we are in good shape."
Team-mate Nelsinho Piquet, by contrast, eventually trailed home in 15th, enjoying some energetic battles along the way that included most notably a supremely brave move all the way around the outside of Honda's Jenson Button in the tight turn twelve left-hander.
"I am satisfied with my performance," the Brazilian rookie asserted. "My race started badly as I had to avoid the accident at the start which held me up. After that we just stuck to our strategy and tried to make up ground.
"The most important thing is that I finished the race and I have gained some more experience. I would have liked to finish further up, but I think my weekend was determined during the qualifying session. I will make the most of what I have learned this weekend and put it to use at the next grand prix in Monaco, which will be an exciting race."
The Enstone-based outfit's managing director Flavio Briatore also professed himself boosted by the squad's considerable progress in recent weeks - and confident of much more still to come.
"It's nice to see some encouraging signs of improvement," the Italian stated. "Fernando made a fantastic start and had a great race to get us some important points. It was difficult for Nelson starting from so far back, but he managed to drive a consistent race and kept pace with the midfield pack. We are confident that we are starting a new phase, which will see us get closer and closer to the top three teams."
"I think we made the most of our chances today," added executive director of engineering Pat Symonds. "Fernando's race was essentially with Webber, but it was gratifying to see that we were closer to the BMWs once again, although there is still a gap that we need to close. Nelson's race was always going to be difficult and there was little we could do for him strategically, but it was a spirited drive, especially his defence against Heikki [Kovalainen]."
