As if confirmation were needed that he hasn't quite lost total patience as his nightmare season continues, Fernando Alonso drew wild applause from the Hungaroring crowds after pushing his stricken McLaren up the hill into the pitlane in arduous heat, such was his desire to get back to his garage and hopefully continue in Q2.

Shortly after however, realising that he faces another long, unrewarding Sunday afternoon, and many more to follow as testing restrictions and lack of (obvious) progress from Honda continue to hamper his efforts, he admitted that the frustration is taking its toll.

"I love motorsport, all categories, but Formula 1 is not as exciting as it was in the past, at least to me," he told reporters, "not to drive the cars just two or three seconds faster than a GP2 car.

"Right now, there is huge motivation and a fantastic project that I am in with McLaren-Honda," he continued. "My first go-kart was a McLaren-Honda replica and I am in a real McLaren-Honda, so I am enjoying this process of getting competitive starting from zero. But with no testing, with these tyres, with these limitations, with the calendar for example of next year, there is the temptation for other categories… that is true."

However, his frustration with F1 clearly goes beyond the problems he is experiencing this season.

"It was more fun before but I don't think it is because we have more sensors or more information now," he said. "Before, we had some freedom in terms of testing and in terms of improving the car as well.

"You could find that your car is not competitive in the first quarter of the season and then you have some solutions and maybe you end up in a competitive way. But now Mercedes will win all the races and Manor will be last in all the races, with more or less sensors or more or less input of driver or team."

And that is the opinion of a two-time world champion, a three-time runner-up, arguably one of the finest talents to grace the sport... it is not a man influenced by the negativity of the media.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by NotRocketSurgery, 26/07/2015 17:55

"One more thought ...

Can you think of another sport where an athlete is forbidden to practice his skills or fine tune his equipment? Can you imaging a skier who can only wax his skis prior to the season or a baseball player who cannot replace a cracked bat? How about a football coach who cannot introduce new plays or a new defense during the season? In which sport are the participants told that they are forbidden to strive to be better during the season? Perhaps it would be beneficial for the newer and lesser skilled tennis players if there was a rule preventing them from restringing their rackets during the season and requiring them to wear the same color of shoes ... to aid in their identification, of course. Maybe we could get the writing crew at Pitpass to come up with a chart that clearly identifies anyone in any policy making or rule creating position for F1, and a clearly defined description of the extent of his responsibility. I, for one, would like to see the names of the individuals who decided that the competition would be closer if no one could practice or fine tune the equipment with which one competes? Specifically, who is the person(s) who are responsible for that giant step forward ..."

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2. Posted by NotRocketSurgery, 26/07/2015 17:27

"It is a pity that a person's critics so soon forget all of a person's past accomplishments and seem to be interested only in what the person did today. I think that Fernando continues to demonstrate to everyone that he is indeed a champion and worthy of as much respect and admiration as he can get. I understand that his contract promises him a huge pay package. But, in his case, I don't think that makes his life any easier. He still walks the walk and talks the talk of a champion. I believe strongly that Alanzo, Button, Honda and Mclaren make an incredible team. We can really see that now. In the face of constant criticism and a lot of trash talk, they all maintain and demonstrate mutual support and a textbook example of team-manship. Today was long overdue. I hope that performance continues to get better and the team can feel the pride of their accomplishment before the end of the season."

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3. Posted by Jigsaw, 26/07/2015 13:49

"I feel for Alonso and the rest of the F1 field. To not be able to bring your car up to competiveness with the leaders must be very disappointing. Why race when your limited by foolish rules? There's so much money wasted by these other teams that I bet the owners sometimes wish they could just park them and stay home. These drivers have a limited time to drive at their optimum because we all get older and slower. Alonso is at his peak age and deserves a car that is competitive. The rules as they stand now only makes for a parade and not really a race. What a shame!!"

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4. Posted by bev, 26/07/2015 11:14

"Its a shame to see a driver of Fernando Alonso,s abilty struggling in the McLaren.But I suspect he would not be saying these negative statements if he was in a competitive car at the front of the field enjoying his racing.Its a shame but I cannot see things getting much better for McLaren they just don't seem to be improving despite what they keep saying. Such a waste of two talented drivers which we are all missing seeing up the front end of the grid."

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