Fernando Alonso says he is leaving formula one because he misses the winning feeling.

Last year, the Spaniard vied for victory at the Indy 500, and earlier in 2018 he won Le Mans.

Having burned some bridges in F1, Alonso has been stuck at the steadily declining McLaren team since 2015 but he thinks the British team will fight back.

"I still believe that McLaren is one of the best teams in history of the sport, and they will get better eventually in a couple of years time," he told CNN.

But he explained that he misses "winning. I miss being on the podium".

So while some think the 37-year-old is simply tired of F1, Alonso says he is actually feeling emotional as he rides out the last races of his career.

"I've found myself recording the parade laps in the last couple of races with my phone," the double world champion said. "I've never done that in my life, but now it's like I want to record everything.

"From August, when I decided to announce the retirement, every single race has been a little more emotional than normal," he added.

But Alonso thinks it's the "right time" to call it quits in F1, because "My idea is to win all the iconic motor sport races in the world".

What his actual 2019 calendar will look like will be announced soon.

"I am a guy that normally wants to programme everything in advance, so I don't want to wait too long until I know the plans," he said.