Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso is driving his final F1 race before leaving the sport. In this picture, Alonso of Spain and McLaren F1 looks on from the pitwall during practice for the Formula One Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Nov. 9, 2018. Charles Coates/Getty Images

Fernando Alonso is retiring from Formula 1 after Sunday’s 2018 season finale in Abu Dhabi after 17 seasons in the sport and with both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships wrapped up already, most of the attention is likely to be on the Spaniard this weekend.

The double F1 world champion has not had the best ending to his career in the sport, despite being considered one of the best on the grid even today. Alonso has struggled on the wrong end of the grid with McLaren for the past four seasons and recently revealed that his only hope was to have a clean weekend and finish the race.

The Spanish racer announced in August he would leave the sport at the end of the 2018 season and there was speculation the decision was made on the back of him not landing a competitive drive for the 2019 season. Alonso, however, dismissed those suggestions and revealed that he was leaving because he had achieved everything he wanted to. He said he was looking for a new challenge, but has since revealed another reason for quitting the sport.

The McLaren driver feels the F1 show has become weak and it is not the sport that made him want to be a racing driver in his younger days. Alonso said the sport had become so predictable that the main talking points were what happened off the track.

“What happens now is not the Formula 1 that made me want to be a racing driver. I quit F1 because I think we’re a weak show. We talk more about what happens next to the track. We talk about polemics and radio messages,” Alonso said, the Week reported.

“I could write down the first 15 positions for the result of the next race, perhaps with a few changes of places. I find it hard to accept how predictable it has become. I suppose I find more pleasure in other racing series.”

Alonso’s future after F1 was a constantly discussed topic and it is becoming clear the Spaniard is keen to take a breather and recharge his batteries before driving a full season in any other motor racing series.

The 37-year-old was first touted to make a switch to the IndyCar Series in the United States but revealed he was not interested in driving a full season in 2019. He will concentrate his efforts on the 2018-19 season with Toyota Gazoo Racing in the World Endurance Championships and his return to the Brickyard to have another go at the Indy 500.

Alonso is clear that winning motorsports' fabled Triple Crown is high on his priority list and will make his second attempt at winning the Indy 500 race in 2019 with McLaren Racing. But he admitted he could consider a full season either in IndyCar or even in F1 in 2020.

“Seventeen races in America [in Indycar], with everything I would have to learn, maybe 2019 is not the right time. I need to recharge my batteries, but by 2020 the Indycar season could be a possibility, just like a full season in F1 or another championship,” the Spaniard added.

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