Fernando Alonso has rejected a claim he made an ultimatum to McLaren following the Belgian Grand Prix that either they ditched engine partner Honda or he would leave.

There were some question marks around the Spaniard after the Japanese manufacturer found no problems with the power unit he raced with at Spa, despite pulling out of the race as a precaution after Alonso reported a problem.

That has led some to believe the double world champion simply parked it up after a difficult first half of the race, a suggestion he admitted had "surprised" him, but Alonso was more defiant in his tone when asked about the ultimatum claim.

“Absolutely not true," said Alonso. "I have absolutely not decided, and more than anything I'm not bigger than a team, I am not… we are 1,000 people in McLaren-Honda working for the championship.

"We know that things are not going in the right direction, we are not competitive enough after three years, we all want to change that situation, me as one of the 1000 people there.

"We are McLaren, we all want the same thing: to be competitive."

Questions surrounding the 36-year-old's future at McLaren have been swirling for about a year, with Fernando insisting it would be this summer and then more specifically September when he wanted to decide his 2018 plans.

"I'm getting there, it's the 31st of August," he joked when reminded of his own deadlines. "There's nothing really new on that, I will start sitting down with the team especially, what are the prospects for the future, the expectations for next year.

Interestingly, on Wednesday, Alonso caused a stir by replying with a GIF on Twitter to an IndyCar report in which former Manor driver Alex Rossi suggested he would find the competition he desired with a full-time switch, following his Indy 500 appearance in May.

Having insisted his intentions are to remain in F1 and claim a third world title, he would suggest that is not totally impossible with McLaren.

"We do have now some ingredients to be champions and the team did improve a lot in the last three years from when I arrived here," he claimed.

"I think we have the talent in the team, we have the facilities, we have everything, we just miss to be [being] more competitive, which is the most important thing. We will see what the numbers are saying for next year and after that try to make a decision."