Fernando Alonso says he is treating the remaining races as a “celebration” of his time in Formula 1, as he nears the end of his Grand Prix career.
Alonso has started over 300 Grands Prix across 17 years in Formula 1 but will bow out of the championship at the end of 2018.
It means Alonso is now into his final five events as a Formula 1 driver – beginning with this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
“Every race now from the moment I decided to stop it’s just a celebration,” he said.
“I can’t wait to go to Austin now and see again the place, drive around these cars.
“Maybe we’re not the fastest when you see the times at the end of the session but every lap feels fantastic.
“It’s not that I don’t love Formula 1 anymore, I still love F1, I still love these cars. If I stop now it’s because I am 37 years old and I achieve all my dreams in Formula 1, or more than what I dream of and now I have other dreams.
“It’s like when you do something in your life, you already did that, you try to find different challenges. I was extremely lucky here and I will try to find something else.”
Alonso scored points in Singapore courtesy of placing seventh but McLaren endured a dire Russian Grand Prix weekend, as he mustered only 14th in the race.
“I think we will have better chances in Austin, for example, maybe in Brazil as well compared to this one so in terms of results this is not going to be the best of the remaining five,” he said.
“But in terms of atmosphere, fans, it’s a great weekend and has been a great 17 years in Formula 1 here.
“I came before F1 for the karting World Cup as well here at Suzuka so Japan is always a country that is so enjoyable to race because the fans make it so special and everything is special here.
“I am ready to enjoy every minute of this weekend because it will be the last Suzuka. I am lucky enough that next weekend will be Fuji [WEC event] so I will still have some fun with the fans and racing in Fuji will again be special.
“It’s definitely one of the best weekends despite if you’re retiring or not, all drivers will love to race here and for me it’s the same.”
