As the various inquests into his decision to leave F1 continue, today, ahead of this weekend's round of the World Endurance Championship at Silverstone, Fernando Alonso shed further light on why he has chosen to walk away from the sport.

Like a number of his colleagues, the Spaniard is unhappy with the current state of the sport and the direction it appears to be taking. On the other hand, unlike some of those colleagues he is not driving for one of the big three teams and therefore feels the frustration even more acutely.

"The action on track is not the one I dreamed of when I joined F1, or when I was in different series, or the action on track that I experienced in other years," he admitted. "I stopped because the action on track, in my opinion, is very poor... In fact, what we talk about more in F1, is off-track.

"We talk about polemics... we talk about radio messages... we talk about all these things, and when we talk so many times about those things, it is a bad sign," he continued.

"It is because the on-track action was very poor, and that is what I feel in F1 now, and I think there are other series that maybe offer better action, more joy and more happiness, so that is what I try to find.

"In 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2011, I was not winning many races in those years," he added. "But it was difficult to predict what could happen in Spa and Monza. Now, we can write down what is going to happen at Spa and at Monza. We can put the first fifteen positions with maybe one or two mistakes. How predictable everything became is tough.

"We go to Barcelona and we test the first day of winter testing and you know what you will do until November in Abu Dhabi and it is tough. For me, it is not too much of a problem because after eighteen years, as I said before, I achieved more than what I dreamed of.

"But for young drivers or different drivers, it is tough because they just hope that next year the team does an unbelievable step or they receive a call from one or two teams. It has become difficult for ambitious drivers. For a driver with some kind of ambition, it will be tough for the future if things don’t change."

Amidst talk of the Spaniard taking part in a road course IndyCar test after the Italian Grand Prix, Alonso, who has yet to confirm his plans for 2019, admitted the door is still open for a return to F1.

"I think the door open is more because I think I am driving at the best level of my career now," he said. "And why close doors if anything could happen in the future?

"I am still young, I am not 45 years old," he added. "I feel strong and I am doing this year 27 races, so my thinking is to stop. And that is why I stop. But who knows? That is the reason why."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by meatball, 17/08/2018 16:21

"His talent is undeniable. Anyone that can get that pig of a mclaren to perform has the chops. His opinion is shared by a LOT of fans and i'm sure, secretly by pretty much all the drivers and most of the engineers and mechanics too, they just aren't "allowed" to voice it. Whether you like him personally or not, he's only saying what we all know. F1 has ruined itself. He is very fortunate to have the ability to pick and choose where he wants to race. The man lives for close racing, good cars and lots of excitement. Is he arrogant? as much as he is confident in his ability too? yep, he should be too. You don't get to this level without knowing how good your are and knowing when your talent is being pissed away.

He absolutely should take his ball (of talent) and go elsewhere. In F1, if you aren't in one of the top 2 teams, you aren't racing for P1. And being a driver with his record, that has to sting even more."

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2. Posted by Spindoctor, 17/08/2018 15:56

"I'm not his biggest fan, but it's very hard to argue with his point-of-view.
Yes I know he'd be singing a different tune if he were in a Mercedes, but that emphasizes, rather than diminishes his veracity."

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3. Posted by klmn, 17/08/2018 10:51

"Playing the journos again. He is a master in that."

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4. Posted by Editor, 17/08/2018 8:17

"@ GrahamG

"Shape"?

Reminds me of the adverts for Durex back in the day, which ran: "New shape... ""

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5. Posted by GrahamG, 17/08/2018 7:11

"Completely true. F1 is totally contaminated by excessive rule making, knee jerk banning of anything innovative and a preoccupation with pitstops. But above all else tyres which are idiotic in their shape, size and inability to either deliver grip over a range of conditions or to last a race. "

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6. Posted by Simon in Adelaide, 17/08/2018 4:59

"A lot of what Alonso has said is true, F1 is predictable although maybe not all the way down to 15th. The technology in today's cars is such that it masks driver skills (or lack thereof) and hence the more skillful drivers are not able to make that difference between winning and being 6th.
I think Alonso will do well in other series a) because of his talent/skill and b) because he is not afraid to get his elbows out and mix it with those who would like him to make heavy contact with the wall."

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7. Posted by Esteban, 17/08/2018 0:03

"The driver that's largely regarded as maker of his own demise because he's a selfish, mouthful brat, now wants us to feel bad big teams got fed up with him."

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Alonso admits to becoming disillusioned with F1

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