Alonso denies he will walk out of McLaren mid-season

The McLaren driver, whose contract with McLaren expires at the end of the year, was keen to counter a suggestion from his friend and former F1 driver Mark Webber that he might not see out the 2017 season, given his team's struggles.

When asked about Webber's comments about the possibility of leaving McLaren mid-season, Alonso said: "No, it's definitely not true.

"It's normal from the outside, drivers speak. I also read comments from many people. In Spain if one ex-driver or motorbike driver has an interview, there's always one question about Alonso, how difficult the situation is.

"Everyone is quite close to me, and it's like I have a depression! It's not like that."

Alonso also denied that he thought recent seasons had been a waste of his time despite the lack of success.

"I prefer to be here than in the supermarket in my home town," he added.

"I'm in F1, I'm delivering at my best, I'm more prepared than ever, I'm performing I think at my best. You know the team is not very competitive now. OK, it's true, nothing we can do from one day to another, so it's hard work.

"At the same time I think the team is expecting an extra job from me now, an extra result from me, as we did in Australia – the predictions, the simulations, they said that we are last, and we were 10th.

"In China if the prediction says we are last, hopefully Alonso is in the points," he added.