Renault stars confident for second qualifying.

Despite there only being the smallest of gaps separating drivers at the head of the field after Saturday qualifying, Renault driver Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella are confident that they can continue the team's frontrunning pace on Sunday morning.

After Fisichella dominated the wet-dry first session in Melbourne, it was team-mate Alonso's turn to secure provisional pole in Malaysia and, despite both drivers claiming that their engines felt down on power in the oppressive heat, they were convinced that one, if not, both of them could be on the front row for the second race of the season.

"I am more confident than I was in Australia - I was nearly crying after Friday and now I am smiling," Alonso told the daily press conference, "I think, in Australia, I was competitive on Friday and Saturday morning, like I was here this morning, and then, in qualifying, I did not show the potential of the Renault and was lucky to have a good race afterwards. Here, with normal qualifying, we have shown again that both Renault cars can be in the top three."

Both drivers reported handling problems after Friday's sessions in Malaysia, but overnight work with their engineers largely eradicated the worst traits.

"Yesterday, we had a few problems, but the engineers did a very good job last night and we again found a quick and easy car to drive this morning," Alonso continued, "There was more grip than I had been expecting for my timed lap, but the car was well balanced, although I lost some time on the exit of turn six."

The Spaniard ended the day with a slim 0.09secs advantage over Toyota's Jarno Trulli, something that he was received to see, even if the gap could be wiped out by the slightest mistake on Sunday morning.

"It's good to have a small gap ahead of tomorrow's qualifying session, which I think will be a difficult challenge," he admitted, "It was very, very close. Since yesterday, the sessions have all been very, very close. The times are maybe closer than ever here in Sepang, and this makes the qualifying even more interesting.

"Now, you can't [afford to] make a mistake on the single lap, but you still have to push. And that's not only today, you have to have a little gap for tomorrow's qualifying too, but I am optimistic for the race."

Team-mate Fisichella continued to struggle with the handling on his R25, and acknowledged the pressure the top eight would be under on Sunday.

"I am pleased to finish third this afternoon, as the car was understeering a bit on the timed lap, and I made some small mistakes," he revealed, "However, I think that I can still fight for the podium tomorrow, and maybe the win.

"We learned yesterday that the R25 has the potential to be competitive on high fuel loads, and I hope we can confirm this result tomorrow morning. I will do my best, but it is going to be different with a lot of fuel. It will be important to do 100 per cent but, if you make a small mistake, you can lose a good chance to be in the top two or three rows. It is important to do a clean lap."

Despite complaining that their engines felt sapped of top end in the heat and humidity, neither Renault pilot felt that he would have to nurse the unit - both of which are now into their second grand prix weekend - on Sunday afternoon.

"As soon as I went full throttle yesterday, I was really scared because the power is much less because it's much hotter than Australia, but then the engine is still consistent, it's still strong," Fisichella said, "I saved the engine in the Australian Grand Prix, so I think my engine is quite fresh. You never know, but I'm quite optimistic about that."

"In Australia, I think I used more of the tyres because I was pushing every lap and I think the engine revs were more or less the same through the whole race," Alonso concurred, "I am 100 per cent confident that the engine will not have a problem at all in the race."