Alonso wants rest to 'chase the ace'.

Fernando Alonso's return to Formula One testing with Renault also heralded the return of familiar colours to his cockpit, as the black-and-white helmet of last year was replaced by the more patriotic colours seen during the Spaniard's world championship campaigns.

Alonso, who would go on to post the fastest time of the day at Jerez, sported a design similar to that which accompanied him to the 2006 title, with the familiar lightning bolts on the crown and red and yellow Spanish flag motif on the sides, all mixed with white and Asturia blue stripes. The back of the helmet, however, was a little different to two years ago, with Alonso having added a couple of playing cards - aces, naturally - displaying the years in which he won the world championship.

"I wanted to put some reference to the titles that I won in 2005 and 2006, and a friend sent me some ideas - a tortoise, a crown and a laurel...," Alonso explained to the Spanish media, "When he sent the cards, I liked them and decided to put them in the design. I picked the cloverleaf [the ace of clubs - Ed] to give me luck, but the only pity is that it doesn't have four leaves!"

Alonso's full regalia for the 2008 season will be unveiled at the official Renault launch at the end of the month.