Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso has not finished two of his last three races. In this picture, Alonso (right), walks in the pits during the qualifying session of the F1 Mexico Grand Prix, at the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico City, Oct. 27, 2018. ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty Images

Fernando Alonso seems a very frustrated figure as he approaches his final race in Formula 1 — the sport that ensured he is recognized as one of the best racing drivers in the world. In recent months, the Spaniard has constantly taken parting shots at the sport for the direction it has taken in recent years, and it is becoming clear that a lot of the frustration stems from his lack of success since winning back-to-back F1 Drivers’ titles in 2005 and 2006.

Alonso challenged for podium places and race wins until 2014, even coming close to winning the title in 2010 and 2012. But in the last four seasons, he has been fighting on the wrong end of the grid. McLaren have not been able to provide him with a competitive car and a podium finish has been just a distant dream.

Alonso announced in August he would be leaving F1 after the final race of the 2018 season, which takes place in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, and despite many praising his impact on the sport, he has been mainly critical of the sport in recent months.

The 37-year-old first called F1 ‘a weak show’ and said it had become too predictable. Alonso now criticized the introduction of driving aids and the use of simulators by suggesting “drivers with less talent” have benefitted.

The Spanish racing driver believes the days when a driver could influence the outcome of the race by pushing his car to the limit are over. He believes it is all about following instructions from the team to get the best out of the car.

Alonso was also critical of all the rule changes in the last few seasons and he pointed mainly towards the banning of refueling and the tire wars that existed in the past between Bridgestone and Michelin. There was a lot of unexpected factors that determined the outcome of a race.

"The rules change went in the wrong direction," Alonso told ESPN. “Because now the teams have very little room to play and to use creativity into strategies or anything like that. There is fixed fuel for everyone, a fixed fuel flow to put in the engine that is the same for everyone.

“The same tires for everyone, the same weight distribution for everyone. The same tire pressure, mandatory for everyone, the same camber for everyone.

"In a way, it helped the less talented people. They train a lot in the simulator, they arrive to the new circuits knowing exactly where are the bumps, where are the kerbs that you can take, where are the difficult spots and then into the race, normally there is only one optimum way to arrive to the end,” the Spaniard explained.

"It's all about how to save the energy, the tires, whatever that the engineers tell you to do, you just follow that instruction. You have a little bit of room for instinct in different parts of the race but normally it's less optimum if you try to do it yourself. I think when we didn't have all that information it was more you and the car on a Sunday afternoon and I think it was more about driver input."​

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