Fernando Alonso has made it clear the uncompetitive level of his McLaren made his decision to miss the Monaco Grand Prix in favour of racing at the Indy 500 a straightforward one.

The Spaniard, who is preparing for Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, says his focus remains on Formula One but pointed out that in the absence of a chance to add to his two world titles he wants to prove himself as a driver across different series. His replacement for Monaco on 28 May has yet to be named, although Lewis Hamilton has said he would welcome Jenson Button back to the grid in Monte Carlo.

Fernando Alonso to miss F1 Monaco Grand Prix to race in Indianapolis 500 Read more

Alonso and McLaren announced on Wednesday that he would miss Monaco in order to compete at the Brickyard, in a McLaren-Honda car run by Andretti Autosport. It was a decision that came as a considerable surprise, especially given the Monte Carlo circuit is one where the McLaren’s power deficit should be negated. The fifth place the team scored there last year is the equal highest finish they have achieved since partnering with Honda in 2015 but Alonso believed a chance to win at Indianapolis was better than doing similar, or worse, again.

“We are a little bit less competitive this year,” Alonso said. “There is the possibility to get another top-five or top-seven finish. It’s great to have some points but I have won there a couple of times already and I am a two-times world champion so to have fifth, seventh or ninth in Monaco will not change my life. In a way it is impossible to compare – to have the minimum chance to win the Indy 500 compared with fifth or sixth in Monaco, the other possibility is much bigger.”

Alonso’s contract with McLaren ends after this year and his decision to race at Indy, and the 35-year-old’s desire to win the triple crown – Monaco, the Indy 500 and the Le Mans 24 hours – has called into question his future in F1. He insisted it remained as important as ever. “My commitment and my desire to win in F1 is bigger than any other challenge outside F1,” he said. “It is F1 or nothing at the moment but if, with the team, you can make a decision that is interesting for both sides, we will do it.

“I want to win, I am here to win. I am really at the best of my career in terms of driving so for next year the target has to be fighting for the world championship, not fifth or sixth. ”

He has said he wants to win Le Mans and acknowledged that winning the triple crown – a feat only achieved by Graham Hill – was part of the process of leaving a strong legacy in racing. “If I want to be the best driver in the world, there are two options. I win eight F1 world championships – one more than Michael Schumacher – which is very unlikely. The other is to win different series in different moments of my career and be a driver that can race and win in any car in any series. That’s very challenging but attractive.”

Button, who drove for McLaren from 2010-16 and has been retained by them on a sabbatical, is the No1 candidate to replace him at Monaco, although the 37-year-old former world champion has yet to drive the team’s 2017 car.

Hamilton, who drove alongside Button at McLaren for three years, said: “I hope Jenson comes back. That would be great for the sport. I like Jenson and I think he is still one of the best drivers and his calibre and his experience are still higher than any other driver that would be able to take that spot.”

Hamilton also said he would happily compete in other series and admires the task Alonso has set himself. “It’s great that a driver is able to do that. I think us drivers should be able to do more than one series. It is pretty cool he is doing it.

“I would imagine it’s not an easy thing to do in one go. It’s definitely a tall order in a short space of time but you have one of the best drivers in the world going there and he will be the best driver in the paddock. He just won’t have the experience. It will be a great and exciting challenge for him to see how he fares against those with all that experience.”

It was a challenge the three-times world champion said he would also like to take on. “I wouldn’t miss out on an F1 race but I would like to do MotoGP, I would like to ride a MotoGP bike and maybe Nascar – the Daytona 500.”