If Fernando Alonso keeps complaining, the Spaniard should consider leaving formula one.

That is the view of his former teammate Felipe Massa, as Alonso reaches a fork in the road of his career after three seasons with the hapless McLaren-Honda project.

Alonso, however, also appears disaffected with F1 itself, declaring that if the calendar expands to 25 races, he will quit.

And after doing the Indy 500 recently, Alonso said in Montreal: "The atmosphere there (in Indycar) is more relaxed, everyone is happier.

"In formula one, everyone is looking for some controversy with what you say. Or thinking about the future rather than the weekends, because you already know who will be the top 15 in qualifying and the race," he added.

But Massa, who was paired for several years with Alonso at Ferrari, says he knows why the 35-year-old is complaining.

"Fernando is complaining about F1 because he does not have a good car," he told Spain's El Confidencial.

"F1 is the same now as it was in the 80s," explained Massa. "Now with Liberty we are going in the right direction to attract people, but with the cars we still do not make a difference because the gaps between Mercedes and Ferrari and the rest is too great.

"Small teams should be given more opportunity, but until another Concorde Agreement is signed in 2020 it will be impossible," he added.

Another F1 driver, Sergio Perez, also said Alonso is wrong to compare F1 with Indy.

"F1 is the pinnacle of motor sport and therefore more complicated, with much more competition between teams and drivers," said the Force India driver.

So when asked if Alonso's complaining means the time has come for the Spaniard to leave F1, Massa answered: "I think it depends on a lot of things.

"But I think if you're not having a good time, it's best to leave. He does not seem to be enjoying much right now, so maybe he will.

"Maybe he will go to another team or take on other challenges outside of formula one," Massa added. "It's something we don't know."

(GMM)