Renault tricking rivals

Rumours are circulating around the Formula 1 paddock that Renault will be much quicker come the start of the season than their rivals had expected.

The French manufacturer have looked off the pace in winter testing, clocking lap times of about half-a-second behind pacesetters Ferrari in recent outings.

However, it is thought that Renault has been "sandbagging" - basically running excessively high fuel loads in the cars of Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet - in a bid to trick their opposition teams.

When asked by journalists if this was the case, team boss Flavio Briatore merely smiled and said "you'll have to wait and see".