Alonso unclear on F1 future

Fernando Alonso refused to commit his future to Formula 1 beyond the end of the 2018 season, claiming that the sport's predictability is "sad". Alonso will pass five years without a race win in F1 during this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, but heads to Barcelona on the back of a victory in his World Endurance Championship debut.

Saturday's qualifying will represent the unfortunate anniversary for the two-time world champion, whose move to McLaren in 2015 has taken him out of the title fight.

The veteran's ambition to secure the 'Triple Crown' of Monaco Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans 24 Hours victories will see him combine a full F1 season with a similarly stacked campaign in WEC this year.

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Alonso admitted the schedule is tough to handle, and failed to commit himself to McLaren - or F1 - when asked to outline his 2019 plans before the Spanish Grand Prix.

"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.

"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."

Had Alonso stuck with Ferrari, rather than returning to McLaren, he would likely now be in the fight for honours, with Sebastian Vettel many onlookers' favourite for the title.

Having endured three years of underpowered performance thanks to the Honda power unit's impact on McLaren, a switch to Renault is yet to bear significant fruit, but Alonso says his motivation to compete remains intact.

"I kept the motivation because I'm competitive," he added.

"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."