2005 and 2006 world champions confident of a resurgence in form as cars get set to take to the track in anger once more in Australia this weekend.

Renault are in good shape for a strong result heading into the curtain-raising grand prix of the 2008 campaign Down Under in Melbourne this weekend - that is the view of the Régie's technical director Bob Bell.

Renault endured a miserable season last year that saw the then reigning double world champions register just a single podium finish - courtesy of rookie Heikki Kovalainen in the rain-lashed Japanese Grand Prix. Having secured the services of another rookie in the shape of Nelsinho Piquet - son of three-time former title-winner Nelson Piquet - as well as former talisman driver Fernando Alonso for 2008, however, the Enstone-based concern is heading into the opening meeting in Australia in confident spirits.

"There is a renewed optimism this year," Bell explained, "and Fernando coming back has really buoyed the whole team. He really is a great source of motivation for everybody.

"The wonderful thing about Fernando is that he's a real fighter and he will always get the best out of the equipment on the day. You know that every race you enter with Fernando behind the wheel there is a chance he will bring back a trophy because that's the sort of driver he is, and so it fills everyone with real enthusiasm to be going into the first race with Fernando back in the team.

"Nelson has worked hard over the winter and his performances during testing have shown that he has already reached a high standard, so I think he is as ready as he ever will be for his first race. He is working well with the engineers, who have done a good job of getting him ready for the season, and he has shown good pace.

"Now it's a question of showing that pace in a race as opposed to on the test track, because a race obviously has different pressures and there are a lot more things for a driver to think about. It will be interesting to see how he copes with that, but I'm sure he will do a good job."

Bell is similarly confident that Renault has done a good job in the conception and development of the R28, the car on which it is pinning its hopes for podium finishes over the upcoming eight months after its R27 predecessor struggled to adapt to the new Bridgestone rubber and ultimately proved to be too conservative a design. He also predicted a strong race debut for the new machine this weekend.

"We have pushed very hard in all areas," the Irishman underlined, "and particularly on the aerodynamics. The reality of modern F1 is that the quality of the aero package determines a car's success, and this has been our primary focus.

"The front end too has come in for particular attention, notably the front wing and the front suspension; the suspension architecture is now much more akin to what is deemed 'fashionable'. The zero keel solution offered us no real benefit for a number of years, but it has opened up potential for us this year in order to extract maximum performance from the tyres.

"The relationship with Bridgestone has always been good, and even when we were struggling to get the best out of the tyres they were an excellent partner to work with. It's true to say, though, that we are in much better shape this year with our understanding of the tyres and we now have a car that is better at exploiting the characteristics of the tyres. I'm not really concerned about the tyre utilisation; we know we can set the car up to get the best out of them.

"There were no obvious handling problems with the car, and certainly none of the problems we had last year. We're also pretty comfortable with the reliability, which is what so much of winter testing is about, but from now it's a matter of entering into a development race against all the other teams to develop the car and do all we can to make sure we are improving faster than everybody else.

"We are happy with how things [have gone] overall, and we have achieved pretty much everything that we needed to in terms of preparing for Melbourne. On the performance side it's hard to know exactly where we stand - it's going to be very close between a big group of teams - but we had a successful winter in terms of getting on top of the car and learning how to set it up, so we know we're extracting the most from our package."

As to concrete objectives, Bell refused to pull any punches, arguing that Renault had to be in the mix for rostrum challenges right from the off. The French squad has triumphed in Australia in two of the past three years, and though 2007 witnessed something of a dip in form - with Giancarlo Fisichella's fifth place the team's best result - the 49-year-old is bullish about the prospects of a renaissance this weekend.

"We want to be fighting for the podium," he asserted. "That will be our clear objective for the season, and that's what we're aiming for in Melbourne. Exactly how things will shake out is anybody's guess, but we will be doing everything we can to try and achieve that.

"Albert Park is a circuit Fernando knows well, and he's been successful there in the past, winning with the team in 2006. It's a new circuit for Nelson, so our main focus is to make sure he is as well-prepared as he can be. It's probably the most difficult circuit for a driver to learn, because it's so technical and one of those places where drivers find it difficult to get their lines absolutely right.

"It's a track that has traditionally required a car with a good change of direction and good braking characteristics, and this should suit the R28. It can be a bit bumpy in places, though, and I think we've possibly got some work to do with getting the car to work well on the bumps and the curbs.

"The other thing about Albert Park is that it's all about driver confidence, and so a good set-up is essential. I think that is something we can achieve with the R28 - we can set it up to give the drivers what they want. It's not going to be disadvantageous to us in any particular way, and I would expect it to be a good indicator of how we're going to fare for the early part of the season.

"From what we have seen in winter testing, we are fairly sure Ferrari are the front-runners with McLaren probably a little bit behind them. After that there seems to be a gaggle of teams that are all very close to each another, possibly slightly behind McLaren or maybe just with them. It's very difficult to call where we think we will finish in Melbourne, but we do go there with high expectations."