The French team stood out on the grid last year as they had the best automatic start system in the World Championship, but the modifications to the rules this season - the start must now be manual - made the engineers get down to work to find a new method. The time consumed on this search has brought forth its fruits, since Alonso overtook two drivers in front of him on the grid - something that gave him a podium- and Jarno Trulli over took four in the Australian GP.

Jenson Button, one of Alonso�s victims on the grid, doubts the legality of Renault�s methods, but others like Michael Schumacher and Marc Gen� simply praise the effective system revealed by Flavio Briatore�s team. The clutch - to improve as much as possible the reaction time - and the traction control - whose objective is to make the wheels spin as little as possible on the grid seem to be their secrets.

Alonso and Trulli have also added their grain of sand so that this formula is a success. Both have dedicated more than a day during the pre-season to improve their reaction times with simulators especially prepared for the occasion by the team. They train together and the Spaniard usually does it better, although the difference between both is hundredths of a second. Reflexes and the ability with the steering wheel do the rest.