FORMULA ONE: The performances of Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix signalled that Renault could be serious contenders in this season's world championship.

Alonso and Trulli finished third and fifth respectively at Sepang, having qualified on the front row. The result left Renault joint second with Ferrari in the constructors' championship after two races.

Renault's technical director, Mike Gascoyne, believes the revised format of the grand prix weekends has much to do with the team's success.

Gascoyne puts the competitiveness of their R23 down to the decision to opt for the extra two-hour test session on Friday morning in exchange for limiting their testing to 20 car days between March and October.

"The extra Friday session has benefited us more than I expected in terms of pure driving," he said.

The full-time third driver, Allan McNish, has enabled the team to run three cars in Friday testing, carrying out engine, chassis and tyre development programmes simultaneously while also gaining additional experience of the track that will be used that weekend.

"The tyre choice was very clear after we completed 120 laps on it during the morning, but ultimately we were on pole because Fernando didn't make even the slightest mistake," said Gascoyne.

"He is a super guy, but all credit to Jarno as well, who watched Fernando go out and do the perfect lap, then went straight out and virtually matched it.

"I think we have established that our new car is a big step forward, although the engine still needs to make more progress to be at the forefront of the action. Having said that, the engines haven't missed a beat either here or in Melbourne a fortnight ago."

In selecting Alonso to drive for Renault, Gascoyne paid tribute to team principal Flavio Briatore.

"You'd have to say that Flavio has brought some pretty decent drivers into Formula One," he said. "He helped accelerate Michael Schumacher's career in 1991 and spotted Fernando when he was racing in Formula 3000 three years ago, which was a pretty shrewd move."

In stark contrast to Renault's fortunes, the beleaguered Jaguar team, another competitor to harness the Friday morning test session, had a dismal team performance in Malaysia.

The R4s of Mark Webber and Antonio Pizzonia had endless fuel pick-up problems which necessitated their running with nearly full tanks.

At the first corner Pizzonia was rammed before being pushed into the back of Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams-BMW.

He later spun off the circuit with what the Brazilian reported "felt like a brake problem".

Webber briefly got up to eighth, but a oil-consumption problem led to the car being withdrawn from the race after 35 laps.

Although the new R4 looks competitive, at this rate it will not be long before the Jaguar team's future becomes the subject of critical scrutiny within the empire of their owner Ford.

At the start of the team's fourth season in Formula One, there is precious little excuse for mechanical problems of this order.