Title can be Alonso's leaving gift to Renault team

Fernando Alonso's Formula One rivals can expect the world champion to be an even tougher opponent when the season starts in Bahrain next week.

After the breakthrough of winning his first title, along with Renault's first constructors' championship, the 24-year-old feels that the pressure has lifted and now he can have fun trying to win every race.

"I want to be the best also in 2006, 2007, 2008 and whenever," he said last November when Renault presented him with his winning car.

"I always want to beat the competitors in everything I do, it doesn't matter whether it's Formula One or tennis."

Moving to McLaren at the end of the year, Alonso wants to hand Renault a bittersweet leaving present by defending his title and then joining their rivals as champion.

He said in January that his confidence and motivation were the same as ever.

"Maybe last year I was a young driver with talent who needed to prove that he can win a championship, not only races. And now I am maybe more relaxed," said the sport's youngest champion and Spain's first.

Alonso won seven times in 2005, the same number as McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, but he also drove tactically to bank points. He felt at the end of the season that, given a free rein, he could have had a greater tally.

"I was maybe more conservative because I wanted to win the championship," said Alonso. "This year I want to win the championship but I'm not so stressed."

While some people have wondered whether Renault might favour Italian Giancarlo Fisichella over the departing driver, the likelihood is that the team will want to show Alonso that he has made the wrong move.

The Spaniard is convinced Renault will be even-handed and the new car has looked as quick as any in testing over the past month.

"I am 100 per cent confident in the Renault team... I will defend the number one and they will defend the constructors' championship and we need to help each other and I'm sure we can do it again," he said.

"We are all working together this year, it's the last year for me in the team, it's the last year for Michelin in F1. We must leave the team in the best way possible and this is repeating the championship.

"The motivation is even higher than ever this year because we have the number one and two in the team and all the mechanics and engineers are working with much more interest than last year," added Alonso.

The Spaniard has been contracted to Renault since 2001, when they were still Benetton and he raced against them with now-defunct Minardi.

"Renault has been like my family from my start in Formula One. I gave a lot of things to Renault and they gave me a lot of things," he said.

"I think I have finished one of my stages in my career. I arrived with Renault when they were nearly fighting with me at Minardi, we grew up together and in 2005 we reached the maximum target which is both titles.

"Now the contract is finishing and this period of my career finishes here and I need to win with new teams and find new motivation."