Fernando Alonso says Formula 1 needs to review its format over the winter to bring the 'fun factor' back to the sport after complaining of receiving an unfair penalty at the start of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Spaniard was punished with the drive-through penalty for striking Pastor Maldonado at the first corner, though Alonso maintains he was struck in the braking zone and thus unable to prevent himself from striking the Lotus.

Describing the ensuing penalty as 'unique', Alonso suggested the ruling was symptomatic of the sport as a whole, the McLaren driver has urged the sport to look at WEC and MotoGP for inspiration, saying they have 'much more fun than us.

"They hit me on the start and with no control of the car, I went into Maldonado and they put the penalty on me. We blame the sound of the car bringing less and less spectators to the track, I think the FIA should look at categories like MotoGP or WEC and see how successful they are and how consistent they are with the penalties.

"They need to make more sense of what they are doing as well because I don't see this in WEC or MotoGP and other categories. They have much more fun than us. They need to look at many things.

When asked what it would take to get that 'fun factor' back, Alonso replied 'They need to get some consistency in the penalties, some common sense and be fair'.

It was a typically frustrating end to a dismal year for Alonso, his worst since his debut season with Minardi and the first time he has been out-scored by a team-mate. Indeed, after the penalty left him well adrift, Alonso was heard over the team radio suggesting he should retire the car.

A pointed message on the weekend it was speculated he could take a sabbatical in 2016, Alonso insists that was simply a message to revert to a 'low fuel, new tyre' strategy to test the limits of the car.

"We were two laps behind the other guys and we have to save tyres and fuel, save everything, so I said 'guys, we try to have fun and push flat out to see what the limit of the car is' and if we have no fuel to finish the race then OK, I don't think that is the priority. We saved enough fuel to finish the race and hopefully get some good data."