Double F1 world champion Fernando Alonso puts Renault back on top of the timesheets for the first time in a long time during practice for this weekend's French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours.

Renault got off to a strong start in practice for its home grand prix this weekend at Magny-Cours, with former race-winner Fernando Alonso thrilling the partisan crows by setting the fastest time in the afternoon session - equating to second-quickest overall.

The Spaniard triumphed in the French Grand Prix en route to the first of his two, back-to-back F1 world championship crowns with the Régie three years ago, and with the Enstone-based concern undeniably now on an upward curve once more following 18 months spent in the doldrums, the 26-year-old fully intends to capitalise on it.

"We had a small engine problem at the end of the morning session," he related, "but my mechanics did a remarkable job to fix the car and we were able to continue our free practice programme this afternoon without any problems.

"We tried several new elements that we ran in the test last week, and everything went well and we completed our programme. Looking ahead to qualifying tomorrow, I think our level of performance is rather encouraging."

There were similarly positive vibes at the close of play from under-fire rookie team-mate Nelsinho Piquet, who paddock whispers suggest could have just two races left now to save his seat. The Brazilian lapped eleventh-fastest in the morning session before ending up ninth overall, just under eight tenths adrift of Alonso's time.

"The day has gone well," the 22-year-old confirmed afterwards. "We have been able to do a lot of running and as a result collected lots of data, which I hope will allow us to continue improving after we have been through it this evening.

"We still need to make some small changes to improve the behaviour of the car, but overall I am satisfied with this first day. It's certainly a good start to the weekend."

A more cautious viewpoint was taken, however, by Renault's executive director of engineering Pat Symonds, who sought to underline that it is rarely possible to gauge an accurate reading of drivers' and teams' respective levels of competitiveness from the opening day alone.

"We had an engine problem this morning," the Englishman acknowledged, "which was unfortunate, but at least it happened towards the end of the session and so didn't have too much of an impact on our programme.

"We spent most of the day evaluating various different approaches for the race, and while it's always good to see your car at the top of the timesheets, we know this is not always a true indication of our ultimate level of performance. Nonetheless, both cars completed their programmes today and we have some useful information, which is a good basis for the rest of the weekend."

"We had an engine problem this morning with Fernando," concurred the squad's head of engine track operations Denis Chevrier, "which is never a good thing, but it only happened in the final ten minutes of the session, so it did not have too much of an impact on our programme today.

"We completed most of what we wanted to, so we end the day with some interesting data. Our two drivers have made good progress and we have learned a lot of things, which leaves us in good shape to continue our progress tomorrow."