BARCELONA, Spain -- Fernando Alonso insists his recent World Endurance Championship victory -- and any success he might have at Le Mans -- will have no impact on his desire to return to the top step of a Formula One podium.
Alonso won his WEC debut for Toyota at the Six Hours of Spa ahead of his home race, which marks the five-year anniversary since his last F1 grand prix victory. The Spaniard has taken on a busy schedule in 2018 to combine his McLaren and Toyota duties together -- his next non-F1 race will be the famous Le Mans 24 Hours on June 16/17.
Alonso's pursuit of that race -- and the Monaco-Indianapolis-Le Mans Triple Crown he is desperate to complete -- has fuelled plenty of speculation about his F1 future in recent seasons. His one-year contract extension for 2018 means there is uncertainty about his next step but he says the two disciplines will not impact each other.
"It doesn't matter, the results we're achieving in both championships don't matter," Alonso said. "I'm competing in two championships at the same time. I'm happy with the progress McLaren is doing and the direction things are going for the future. I'm happy here and I am happy in the Endurance attempt too."
He added: "Last week's win won't change anything for me as they are two different series and two different worlds. It won't change anything for me. Any time I'll have a car close to victory, I'll go for it."
Despite being widely regarded as the most complete driver of the modern era, Alonso has been unable to add to his 32 career victories since 2013. Since joining McLaren in 2015 he has finished no higher than fifth position in a race but he says he is fuelled by the dream of returning the team back to the front.
"I kept my motivation because I'm a competitive man, I love to race and I love to win. We [with Ferrari] won here in 2013, tyres were degrading a lot that and we made an extra stop and we won the race without having the quickest car as Nico was on pole by 0.6s so it was a good call by the team at the time.
"In 2014 we had quite a difficult season and in the last three years you know we struggled a lot and the whole project was difficult but we tried to give hope for the following year and it is the same here. I think the start has not been too bad in terms of results with a number of points."
Alonso used his press conference appearance to reiterate his opinion that his performance at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was one of the best races of his career.
"I've done better races here in the last five years, better than when I won here five years ago, even if I've not been able to win the race. Even in Baku race, I will never probably do a race as I did in Baku, and I could only finish seventh. It is difficult to see from the outside but I am extremely proud and motivated when you do a 100% performance."