Fernando Alonso has reaffirmed his intention to stay at McLaren for the duration of his contract, which runs until 2017.
Alonso's angry radio outbursts at the Japanese Grand Prix, where he labelled Honda's power unit "embarrassing" and a "GP2 engine", prompted speculation in some quarters the Spaniard would leave McLaren at the end of 2015. Those rumours continued despite the fact Alonso is in the first season of a three-year deal at McLaren and following the tweets he sent out after Suzuka to say "no-one should have any doubt" about his desire to stay.
Asked whether he could say with 100 percent certainty he would be racing at McLaren next season, Alonso replied: "Of course -- and '17."
Though both Alonso and team-mate Jenson Button have put a brave face on through McLaren-Honda's troubling first season together, the former's radio messages attracted a lot of attention after Suzuka. Alonso does not think radio messages are that relevant to how a driver feels and was keen to stress how positive he and Button have been this year.
"We've been all season very positive about the team and about the car. We've faced some tough times, some difficult times for the team. What you talk on the radio should remain private because you are talking to your team not to the public. Publicly we've been very positive all the time. It's normal and understandable, talking to the team [on the radio], the level of frustration and level of commitment Jenson and I have for racing.
"When you are battling and cannot hold anyone behind, it is normal. This is a unique sport where we have a microphone in our helmet and it goes live on television -- imagine if it happened in NBA or football players. But this is normal, just talking to the team, understandable the frustration when you are in the car."
However, the Spaniard admits there have been worse messages this season, from both drivers, which have not made the FOM broadcast.
"I'm happy it was only broadcast in Suzuka because if you hear other races, other radio messages, from me or from Jenson or whatever, you would be even more surprised. "