Fernando Alonso says missing out on titles with Ferrari was more frustrating than being at the centre of McLaren's current struggle to get off the back two rows of the grid.

Fernando Alonso to record a points finish, at 10/1 with bet365* For full odds visit bet365 *All odds correct at time of publishing.

After five years without a title at Ferrari, Alonso moved to McLaren at the start of this year to join the team as it embarks on a new engine partnership with Honda. The season has got off to a slow start with both Alonso and team-mate Jenson Button failing to make the cut for the second stage of qualifying at the first three grands prix, but Alonso insists he is less frustrated than he was at Ferrari.

"The frustration, I have been racing for 14 years in Formula One and this is a situation that we know," he said. "In the recent years [at Ferrari] it was more frustrating because we were fighting for championships and didn't get them, now it's another new project and I am much more optimistic.

"It is time to be together in the team and enjoy this process. We will look at each other in a couple of months and be proud of each other, and this is what I am here for."

Alonso suggested he was the driving force behind a lot of Ferrari's success in recent years.

"I was happy and I was pushing the team even when we had an uncompetitive car to fight for the championship until the last race, so that was probably due to my passion, my motivation and my way to motivate a team even in difficult moments. For many years I showed that and I'm now in a new project trying to build up something important.

"To beat Mercedes you need to do something different, you need to take some risks and that's what I decided last year to do. I was second in the world championship three times in the five years when I was with Ferrari. I could continue for two more years there and maybe finish second again for two more years but that was not enough and I preferred to risk."

And Alonso is confident McLaren will make a breakthrough soon.

"I am enjoying this process. It's weird to hear that probably, but we were 4.5s behind in Australia, 3.5s in Malaysia and 2.5s in China. All this process the team is doing every week is amazing and every session, meeting as we do with the engineers, I have everyone talking about the steps and progress we will make at the coming races. I'm just enjoying this moment. Unfortunately we are underperforming and we are not at the level we want, but I'm sure we will be very soon."