Fernando Alonso believes he has had a “very good” first half of 2017, despite the significant problems his McLaren-Honda team has faced.

The former double world champion has been at the centre of attention for much of the year with speculation continuing over his future as well as his own performances on track.

Such has been his form, it would be hard to argue against the Spaniard as one of the top drivers of the year yet Honda's troubled power unit means Alonso has reached the chequered flag on only three occasions this year, albeit scoring points twice in Baku and Hungary.

"As a team, we can't be happy with the season so far," Alonso said understatedly. "We were making it into Q3 normally last year, ninth/10th was our average position whereas this year we struggled a bit more.

"On the personal side, it has been a very, very good season for me," he added.

"With the 2017 cars, I'm able to drive back again to my driving style, I feel much more competitive than the previous years, I'm feeling competitive out there on the track."

His happiness with this year's faster F1 machines marks a success for the sport, as the 36-year-old admitted his interest was dwindling with the previous generation cars and the high-degradation tyres. The former Ferrari and Renault driver has also made it clear he wishes to remain on the grid in 2018.

Away from F1 too, it has been a great year for the Spaniard with perhaps the highlight of the motorsport season at Indianapolis in May, when he captured the world's attention with his first appearance in an oval race, something many hope could result in a full-time switch to IndyCar.

"I had the Indy 500 which was a nice experience,” he commented. "[My] go-kart circuit is going great, fantastic So it's been a fantastic first half of the season."