"I stayed at sad Ferrari too long" says Alonso

Just as his former team mate Kimi Raikkonen receives another lease with Ferrari, Fernando Alonso has reflected on his tenure with the Scuderia, and believes that in hindsight he should have departed the Italian squad much earlier although his mind remains filled with good memories.

"I only have good memories of my time with Ferrari," Fernando told CNN's Amanda Davies. "We didn't win the championship, but looking at the trophies collected over those five years, I feel very proud."

"I probably should have left earlier, because in the last year the car was not competitive at all and the team was getting more and more sad. So probably, one or two years less would have been the best thing, but we tried our best and fought until the end, at every single race."

In spite of the current predicament endured at McLaren, marked by the inability of the McLaren-Honda partnership to produce a race-winning contender, Alosno belices his motivation remains intact.

"McLaren was a risky project because they were completely new, but we are one team -- we win and we lose together. Last year I realized that with the Mercedes domination it was not possible to win for Ferrari in the short term and a new project was the best idea."

"I think if the podium arrives, we'll not be prepared but it will not be a problem," he concluded. "It will be a consequence of a good job and good progress in the car -- I think that's the main target for us."

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