“I understand why people were so eager though. The fans have always been the ones to support me – I still remember how much people have been there for me this year and how much it touched me. Maybe I never saw what they were really told, because there was some sort of competition between the newspapers as to which one of them would print the news first. Too much has been invented.

“The decision hasn't been an easy one to make, and I would like to thank all the other teams for their interest to have me working with them. [In the end] the decision did not take more than a week, as me and the people close to me were clear about what we wanted. I chose Renault considering their commitment to the sport and because of their strong track record.”

Having now turned his attentions firmly towards next year and avenging his world championship defeat, Alonso is adamant Renault must first focus on regaining the podium – something it succeeded in doing on only one occasion in 2007, courtesy of Heikki Kovalainen's second place at Fuji – before it attempts to take on McLaren and Ferrari once again.

“You know that teams like Ferrari will always be favourites,” he asserted. “Also, the teams who have had problems adjusting to the Bridgestone tyres will hopefully have solved their problems and be back at the top. Maybe Renault can be part of the top teams again next season. Today's challenge is for Renault to go back to the top of the timesheets already in January or February, and then come closer to the podiums next season. They have suffered more than enough this year.

“We shouldn't put the cart before the horse. The first thing to do is to put the R28 on-track in January, and then start working thoroughly in order to get to the first grand prix of the season with the best car possible. I had to rise to the same challenge last year during the winter season, and I am confident this can happen again. After that, I will have to have a perfect season and hope for the others not to be too quick.”