Renault believes it is not a “necessary investment” to run Fernando Alonso during a practice session for the rest of this season, but could bolster his preparations in other ways.

On Wednesday Renault announced it had struck a deal with Alonso to secure his return to Formula 1 after a two-year break, reuniting with the team where he clinched his two world championships.

Having tried his hand racing in separate series and one-off events such as the Indy 500, WEC and Dakar rally, Alonso will not have raced in F1 since the 2018 season finale when he lines up on the grid next year.

The news has suggested Renault could hand Alonso an FP1 outing during a grand prix later this year, but the team’s managing director Cyril Abiteboul said nothing has been planned.

“I don’t think he needs an FP1 to get familiar with the procedures in a racing car, or in a Formula 1 car,” Abiteboul said, as quoted by Motorsport.com. “I don’t think he needs that. That’s not the plan.

“We’ll see if there is any obvious opportunity. We have always the possible of running him in a 2018 car.

“Again to be [clear], we don’t have any firm plan. But no, as far as FP1 is concerned, I don’t think it’s a necessary investment.”

While Alonso has conducted an intense fitness programme to ready himself for his F1 comeback, the Spaniard is now focusing his attention towards his Indy 500 entry in August.

The double world champion’s arrival for a third stint at Enstone is a major boost to the French outfit according to Abiteboul, who believes Alonso’s past success can inject a “winning culture” back into the team.

“He will at some point get into our factory to get to meet the team,” Abiteboul said.

“It’s a great opportunity to set some time in advance of next year to get familiar with the team, in the way we are working.

“He will be a boost for the staff motivation. A lot of the people who have joined, in particular at Enstone, were maybe students or were at school when Fernando won his first title with us.

“For them to be exposed to who he is and his culture for performance and winning, [that] winning culture is something that can come from Fernando.

“We will clearly try to take the opportunity of what we can do for the team.”