Spanish Grand Prix preview

During his two years back in the shadows with a not-quite-competitive-enough Renault, it was easy to forget just how fervent the patriotic support for Fernando Alonso can be.

Now he's in a Ferrari that looks good enough to give him a shot at a third world championship, expect Barcelona's Catalunya circuit to absolutely erupt this weekend when the home crowd's hero races in red in front of them for the first time.

The massive spectator turn-out for Alonso's first winter tests with Ferrari were a hint of what is to come, and the place will go utterly, passionately, crazy should he take a second home win on Sunday.

Before Alonso came along, the Spanish GP was among the least exciting stops on the calendar.

A reasonable but not stunning circuit, an invariably dull race, and a small and not very excited crowd tended to make it a date to forget.

But it turned out all Spain needed was a local star to cheer - and when the young Alonso got his hands on a front-running Renault in 2003, Spain showed that it could get just as worked up about Formula 1 as it always had about rallying and motorcycle racing.

The 2003 Spanish GP still stands as one of Alonso's greatest ever drives.

Renault was getting better, but shouldn't have had a shot at victory, yet Alonso came close to splitting the previously-dominant Ferraris off the line, passed Rubens Barrichello for second with some dynamite laps around the pit stops, then forced Michael Schumacher to dig very, very deep to keep him at bay even though the German had a clearly superior car.

Three years later, Alonso produced a similar performances to deliver an against-the-odds defeat to Schumacher and Ferrari as he won his home race for the first, and so far only, time.

Since leading Felipe Massa in a Ferrari one-two in Bahrain, Alonso hasn't been on the podium at all, and indeed Ferrari has faded from the headlines a little, losing prominence to the developing Red Bull versus McLaren battle.

But under the radar, Alonso has been delivering some quietly astounding performances, not least dragging incredible pace out of a failing car as his gearbox developed a mind of its own in Malaysia.

Charges through the field to fourth in Australia and China after being pushed off at the first corner and jumping the start respectively were almost as good.

Seemingly keen not to rock the boat early in his Ferrari career, and conscious of the reputation he gained during his bitter falling-out with Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, Alonso seemed a little too polite when caught behind new team-mate Massa in the early rounds.

But he wasted no time in China: passing the Brazilian in the pit entry with an audacious - and for Massa, humiliating - dive that could have turned into a disaster.

So Alonso's fans know he is driving as well as ever, their worry will be whether his car is up to the challenge.

Ferrari has acknowledged that with Red Bull racking up pole after pole, and McLaren leading the points, it clearly isn't top dog at present.

More worrying is the spate of engine glitches that means Alonso is already onto the third of the eight engines he is allowed to use in a season.

All the teams have been churning out development parts and upgrades over recent weeks, taking advantage of the break since Shanghai and the return to Europe after the far-flung opening rounds.

In theory, that could mean some vastly different cars appearing for Barcelona, but it's unlikely to feel like F1 2010 is hitting the reset button.

All those who have ground to make up know that they are chasing moving targets, for the likes of Red Bull and McLaren have hardly been resting during the last three weeks.

Expect some shuffles in the pecking order though, particularly if Ferrari races its version of the McLaren 'F-Duct' for the first time, and if the major revisions Mercedes is introducing to address the weight distribution issue it feels has held it - and particularly Michael Schumacher - back does the trick.

Such developments could close the front pack up even more, and perhaps address the 'has Schumacher lost it?' puzzle that has grown increasingly hard to avoid discussing as the German legend seemed to drift ever further down the order - and get overtaken by increasingly unlikely rivals - in recent races.

For most of the crowd though, the only question that matters is whether Alonso will have a fast and reliable enough Ferrari to go toe to toe with whoever else is up front.

One man who hasn't been an absolute pacesetter most of the time is Jenson Button... and yet he's won half the races so far and leads the championship.

In straightforward dry conditions, Red Bull has generally looked a bit quicker than McLaren, and Hamilton look like the faster of the McLaren drivers.

But what Button is doing so much better than anyone else is making the most of his chances and maturely getting the job done, particularly in the fluctuating weather that has been prevalent recently, while his rivals have been making mistakes and squandering opportunities.

Luckily for them, Spain is likely to be much more straightforward - although that is probably going to make it a less exciting race.

The teams' over-familiarity with the track through testing - and even in this era of reduced mileage it's still the only active GP track used in the winter - and its lack of passing places has always made the Spanish GP one of the more processional and predictable races.

The 2007 circuit changes succeeded only in neutering the track's best corners without increasingly the amount of overtaking, and although rain could potentially shake things up, there hasn't been a wet Spanish GP since 1996.

But while the GP probably won't be a thriller, there is still a lot of anticipation over just who will emerge on top in what ought be the first 'normal' head to head contest of pure speed since Bahrain - and if it's Alonso who emerge triumphant, than the crowd won't care how processional the race is.