Alonso serene after day one.

Fernando Alonso was in serene mood after the first day in the desert - in spite of some problems which disrupted the day of his Bahrain Grand Prix.

Renault's Spanish driver experienced a day of mixed fortunes and, while he didn't run into as many problems as team-mate Jarno Trulli, he nevertheless experienced his fair share, escaping unscathed from a puncture under braking from 300kph, and also contending with a hydraulic problem that limited his running. But, in spite of this, he remained in positive mood after the first two practice sessions.

"I enjoyed myself today," Alonso enthused, "For me, it is always fun to discover a new circuit and, during the first few laps, you have to find the right lines, and learn the track. It is a brand new layout, and interesting for us. There are a number of corners that are quite similar, all very slow hairpins, but the rest of the circuit requires very different things from the car: it must perform well at high speed, have good traction and be good on the brakes. It is a big challenge."

Despite the air and track temperatures rising throughout the day, and the dry desert conditions proving a lot different to the humidity of Sepang, Alonso admitted that there were not too many new challenges for the drivers.

"To be honest, I think it is quite an easy track," he said, "You have lots of time on the straights to breathe, and take a bit of a rest. But, having said that, you must stay completely concentrated throughout - if you go off line just a small way, the tyres get very dirty and you need half a lap, maybe a whole lap, to get the same feeling with the car."

Alonso explained that his day had been spent following a programme that was all part of a clear strategy to acclimatise both team and car to the unfamiliar surroundings of the Bahrain International Circuit.

"We had a small problem which meant things were not quite perfect, but we tried not to change the car set-up too much," he revealed, "The track was improving all the time, so it was hard to know whether it was the track changing or the car improving.

"That meant it was important for us not to get confused or make any wrong decisions which could hamper us tomorrow [Saturday]. We will work hard this evening - and overnight with the engineers - to get things right, and then go to work tomorrow morning."

On the other side of the garage, the same optimism reigned - in spite of a tough day.

"Sure, it was bad luck," Trulli shrugged, "But it is better to have a small problem like that today than on Sunday. I think we are competitive so even if we didn't do many laps, we can be confident for tomorrow."

The two Renaults R24s wound up ninth and 18th in the faster of the two free practice sessions on day one in Bahrain.