Renault's hopes of a better 2003 season lay, to a large extent, on Fernando Alonso's shoulders, the man his team boss believes is a champion in the making. Following an impressive debut season with Minardi in 2001 and a year of testing with Renault, 2003 will be Alonso's big moment. Graham Holliday analyses if the Spanish driver will be up to the task

A stagnant 2002, an indifferent silly season, and mass migration of interest away from Formula One begs the question why bother turning on the TV in March come Albert Park. Recent rule tinkering might liven things up, but what Formula One really needs is a 'neu wunderkind' to oust that thirtysomething World Champion and breathe some much needed life into Grand Prix racing. The recent new breed have stirred things up.

In 2000 Jenson Button was the first to slip into Formula One's side entrance and threaten a podium finish for BMW Williams. McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen dazzled us this season with the promise of much more to come in 2003. However, almost three years on since the youngsters broke into the paddock and Michael Schumacher's successor has yet to show himself. That man could be Fernando Alonso, or so his management would have us believe.

A solid karting background preceded a Euro-Open Movistar Nissan Championship title in 1999. A season in F3000 followed, resulting in a respectable fourth position which provided enough proof to manager Flavio Briatore that the Spanish boy from Oviedo meant business. His one and only Formula One season followed with Paul Stoddart's Minardi-European outfit.

As Mark Webber discovered this year, it is not an easy task to really impress the world in a Minardi. The Australian did enough to get a ride with Jaguar for 2003, but the Spaniard did more. Alonso comprehensively outqualified the more experienced Tarso Marques often by 1.5 seconds and put the under-powered European-baged Ford engine ahead of Jaguars, Benettons and even BAR's Jacques Villeneuve on occasion.

His qualifying so impressed team boss Stoddart that he was heard to say after Alonso's blistering 18th position qualifying at the Hungaroring, "Two drivers drove outstanding laps in this afternoon's qualifying session: one was Michael Schumacher and the other, Fernando Alonso. The times they set in their respective cars indicate both extracted the maximum possible from the machinery at their disposal. To say the team is pleased would be gross understatement."

For his part Alonso found it more satisfying to race in front of his home crowd at the Circuit de Catalunya just outside Barcelona finishing in 13th position. After hounding Fisichella's Benetton lap after lap the team finally outwitted the hapless Italian during the pit stops. Alonso was ecstatic, "I am really delighted because I believe I drove a pretty good race today. Even the lap times I was able to put in surprised all of us."

This is where Alonso has really gained a reputation, doing things in a Minardi which the viewing public didn't expect. Only now, in a Renault, they do and so does his boss.

Renault team boss Briatore manages Mark Webber, Jarno Trulli and Alonso, but it is the youngest he rates the highest and who he expects to deliver the World Championship to Renault. "With Alonso, we are preparing the future," the Italian told the French daily L'Equipe at the end of 2001. "He is very young and has a great talent. We chose not to waste him by letting him drive for another team. It is an investment for us and for him. It is important to save him, to allow him the time to prepare for 2003 in the right conditions."

The past year has seen Alonso not only pounding out the testing miles in the Renault, but also in a Jaguar in May (ostensibly for a 'benchmark test' with junior Jaguar drivers Andre Lotterer of Germany and Australian James Courtney) after which he said, "Achieving the third fastest time when there were 16 cars on the track and in a car that is usually one of the slowest is something to be pleased about."

Before the Jaguar test, there were Ferrari rumours, "The only thing I can say is that I am really happy and proud that an important team like Ferrari has shown interest in me," he said. "I think it's normal that prestigious teams are interested in young drivers." The trend to recruit younger drivers has outlasted fad status and looks set to continue as cheap available talent marries well with dwindling budgets and the spiralling expenses of 21st century Formula One racing. Interest from Jaguar, Ferrari, a rumoured 2002 move to the now defunct Prost team and now the Renault drive have all gone some way to help build the youngsters' reputation and inflate his price tag.

Briatore stated at the beginning of 2002 that he would be seriously peeved if the French marque failed to wind up in the top four by the time Suzuka rolled round. With that in mind, 2002 was a success, but Renault didn't return to Grand Prix racing just to make up the numbers. Their eyes have always been set on the future and on a return to winning ways.

The much talked about 2001 Benetton public 'test year' was justified come the beginning of 2002. In Malaysia Jenson Button was on for a sure-fire third place and first ever podium until the final lap when a front suspension failure pranged his Renault and left him limping over the line to claim the fourth spot.

Renault did enough to impress in those early races, but the season was plagued by a litany of engine blow-outs resulting in one alarming statistic - a total of 17 DNFs. When this is considered in the light of the previous full year spent publicly testing the power unit, 2002 was a shockingly bad year for reliability. The wide angle V10 engine, originally seen as a minor revolution in Formula one engineering, could well be about to expire its last breath.

The hype has not reaped results or reliability and the design has arguably already reached the limit of its power. This doesn't help in the short term especially when Flavio has such high expectations of Renault and his Spanish boy wonder, "Our aim is to fight for the Championship from 2003," he said a little over a year ago.

And make no mistake the burden of that lofty goal will fall squarely on the Spaniards' shoulders come Melbourne next March. Whether or not he can live up to the hype remains to be seen. Teammate and established Renault driver Jarno Trulli will be no pushover as Jenson Button found out this year. Trulli, a recognised qualifying master whose car was plagued with more race day gremlins than Button all year, will be keen to mark out his territory early on in his new driver partnership.

Talking just after the Alonso announcement at the French Grand Prix the Italian said, "I will have a new teammate who, again, is very young, but I have seen that these young drivers are really well prepared and they come into Formula One with a lot of mileage and good experience."

In what is potentially another season chasing the Ferrari's red cars as they disappear into the distance, the real interest could well remain behind the front two. Expect the rhetoric to roll as soon as Renault resume testing in Valencia on 26th November and the spin doctors swing into action at the January launch of the R203. However, it's only when Fernando Alonso gets back on track in Melbourne after his year long hiatus from racing that the world will be able to see if Renault's prodigy has what it takes to topple the ruling elite.

Patience is not something Flavio Briatore is known for and it is unlikely that his 21-year year old driver will be repeating his pre-2001 season refrain this time around.

"I know that it will be very difficult to achieve anything notable next season," said the then 19-year-old driver prior to his Grand Prix debut. "I hope people will have patience with me."

Briatore has invested a bundle in Alonso and he's impatient for results. Whether or not a year spent wrapped in Flavio's cotton wool has done anything for the racing instincts of Fernando Alonso is one of the big questions that await an answer in 2003.