Alonso's Frustration - Is he getting bored of battling through?

This has been a persistent trend in the last few years - Alonso is there or thereabouts, but usually having to battle past people after poor Qualifying sessions.

I've watched Fernando Alonso for years. He's a person who wants to win championships and races.

He was confirmed a Ferrari driver on September 30th 2009, that's nearly 4 years ago. And he said it since 2010 that he has commited himself there for the rest of his career. His aims were quite simple: Win races consistently and win championships.

Are Ferrari an underperforming team? It could suggest from evidence of this year. They seem to have not maximised their opportunities when problems occur.

For example, in Bahrain they didnt tell Alonso not to use his DRS after his first pitstop. They threw away a possible 15 points.

Another thing that seems to be frustrating Alonso is the car development. Yes, they have troubles with their windtunnel but when they come to races (As pointed out by BBC's Gary Anderson) they don't seem to optimise the car good enough and spend most sessions running 'back to back'. So therefore, they don't have belief in their research and development of the car. That's being put to waste, and Ferrari seem to be slipping back. They performed well in Monza, but I expect in Singapore for the car to be less competitive unless they race new parts.

With that in mind, I think Alonso is starting to decline. That 3rd title seems no nearer, even with a car that has been more competitive than the last 2 seasons.

He has been frustrated from first evidence since the British Grand Prix Qualifying, when he said Ferrari are getting 'worse and worse'.

It is no surprise that his manager went to see Red Bull to look for another seat. I think Ferrari have got to pull their socks up otherwise Alonso will be departing sooner than 2016.

Alonso is not my favourite or my best driver. I respect what he does on track but I think he does need to be careful for what he says, otherwise his reputation would be stamped over 2007, the season Hamilton shined as a rookie.

I think he will chance it with Ferrari next year, if the team are still underperforming in development, it wouldn't be a surprise to me if Alonso left after 2014 to either take a sabbatical or look for another team.