Fernando Alonso says the struggles at McLaren-Honda were a necessary new challenge for him as he needed fresh motivation in his F1 career.
The return of Honda has resulted in a difficult year for McLaren, with performance and reliability issues limiting the team to just 27 points so far. Ahead of the final race of the season, Alonso says the move from Ferrari was still the right one for his career because he needed to challenge himself in a different way.
"Tough year, obviously difficult and struggling with the pace and reliability all year," Alonso said. "A difficult season for us but personally I think it was necessary. It was a step forward in my career after the two championships, after five fantastic seasons fighting for the world championship but arriving second and I needed some new motivation and a new project that I could trust and I could believe was the only way to become champion again.
"After one difficult season I learned so much. I enjoyed working with McLaren, with Honda, with all the Japanese discipline and culture into the team. We still remain very positive and very, very happy and I look forward to next year being a bit easier than this year, which has been difficult in terms of results."
McLaren lies ninth in the constructors' championship and nine points behind eighth-placed Sauber but Alonso says the focus is on 2016 rather than trying to improve this season's finishing position.
Asked if Sauber is a realistic target this weekend, Alonso replied: "I think it’s unlikely.
"They are nine points ahead and we have scored points three or four points three or four points only this season, so to score ten in the final race is a bit difficult but we will try to do our best and perform a good weekend. But our minds are on next year’s project and probably half of the car is next year’s parts and philosophy as well so I think we are not too worried about beating Sauber this weekend or not."
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