Alonso casts doubt over F1 future

Fernando Alonso has cast doubt over his future in Formula 1. The Spaniard spoke in the Thursday press conference to the media, admitting that he feels sad with the current direction that the sport is taking.

Alonso also confirmed that he would not decide on his F1 future until after the summer break in August. This year, he is combining F1 with the World Endurance Championship, racing for Toyota in the LMP1 class. Last weekend, he took his first win in the series at the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

The victory marked his first in motorsport since 2013, when he won the Spanish Grand Prix. With McLaren struggling to keep up with the frontrunners, he hasn't had a proper shot in F1 since then, and has now cast some doubt over his future in the sport.

"I'm attempting two world championships at the same time. I'm happy with the progress we did here at McLaren and the direction things are going so I'm happy here. But it's quite demanding - especially the F1 calendar," Alonso said ahead of the Spanish GP.

"The biggest thing here is how predictable everything is. We can put in the paper now what would be the qualifying here on Saturday, what it would be in Monaco, what it would be in Silverstone. So that's something you need to take into account for future decisions. This is sad in a way for Formula 1, the direction everything went."

Despite not having a car capable of winning races over the last number of years, Alonso thinks that his best performances have come during them: "I kept the motivation because I'm competitive.

"I love to race, I love to win. I did much better races in the last five years than I did previously, even if I was not to win a race. The Baku race, I will probably never do a race as I did in Baku, and I finished seventh. It's difficult to see from the outside but you're extremely proud and motivated every time you do a one-off performance."

Fergal Walsh