Fernando Alonso has said that he is sure he is in the right place with one of the four car manufacturers in Formula 1.

At the end of 2014, the Spaniard switched from Ferrari to the new McLaren-Honda project, insisting that he could not face more years of finishing second.

"In 2014 I could not fight for the podium as [Ferrari] are doing now," Alonso told AS, "but in my five years with Ferrari I often arrived at the last race leading the championship so I really do not see the improvement.

"They are in good shape and are contenders for the championship, which is great, but we were not the contenders, we were leading the championship at the last race."

When asked about his replacement - Sebastian Vettel - at Ferrari, Alonso suggested that he has no hard feelings and said both of them are in good places for the future.

"He is in a good place, younger and motivated and the car is close to the best," the 34-year-old said of Vettel.

"I think the trend now with the new Formula 1 is that Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda will win the championships because the private teams can not.

"With such an important engine [formula], only the parent team can win. So if Renault and McLaren-Honda improve sufficiently they will have the opportunity to win because the private teams are out of the competition."

McLaren have picked up one point so far in the 2016 season.