Is Alonso beginning a controlled exit from F1?

Speaking ahead of his home race in Barcelona, the 36-year-old Spaniard told Sky, "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."

This could be perceived as the first salvo in the start of his own well-orchestrated departure from Formula 1at the end of this season, which would enable him to focus on his determined quest to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport.

Last weekend, Alonso famously won in his World Endurance Championship (WEC) debut at the 6-Hours of Spa with Totoa Gazoo Racing, a series he will run in tandem with his Formula 1 campaign with McLaren.

He explained, "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 last won in Formula 1 when he triumphed at the Spanish Grand Prix five years ago. Since then he has departed Ferrari and rejoined McLaren at the start of their new Honda era. That was a disaster and since then Alonso has been toiling at the wrong end of the grid with an unreliable car.

This year much was expected of the team's Renault engine era but again a disappointment for the team and their fans as all targets have been missed thus far, the truth of their 'better-than-last-year-results' bravado is the fact that their preseason targeting of Red Bull has fallen well short of the mark.

With the prospect of another challenging season of mediocre results, Alonso was asked how he finds inspiration after such a long career in F1, "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."

His dogged fight back after returning his wrecked McLaren to the pits in the opening laps of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix are the thing of legend, showing the never-say-die the spirit that has earned him huge admiration from his peers as well as a legion of supporters.

He recalled, "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."

Much is expected of the McLaren 'MCL33-B' that will hit the track this weekend in Barcelona, but Alonso is keeping playing down expectations, "I think it's difficult to say and be precise about how far behind we are."

"We have been in power-sensitive circuits so far from the first four races so I think here, and Monaco, maybe we'll see a different picture of different teams moving around. Hopefully, McLaren is one of those that pick up a bit of pace."

"Normally Spain brings a lot of updates for all the teams, some of them work better some of them need a little bit more time, so hopefully we can benefit a little bit from that as well.

"There's still a long way to go for us but at the same time we were here last year with 0 points and now we are sixth and fourth in the world championship so in a way it's been a very good start. So let's keep that momentum," added the two times Formula 1 World Champion.