Fernando Alonso has an obvious determination to see out his elite racing career with a bang.

The two-time Formula One world champion has explored the opportunities provided by other forms of top-tier racing, competing in the Indianapolis 500 last year and set to endure 24 hours in Le Mans in 2018.

The two races make up two-thirds of the 'triple crown' of racing along with F1's Monaco Grand Prix - an event that Alonso has, of course, competed in and won.

The Spaniard's ventures into other forms of racing have brought about questions over his happiness and desire at McLaren.

Nigel Mansell, himself a driver who branched out into both IndyCar and Endurance racing, recently wondered if Alonso had grown tired of not winning and was exploring other avenues to achieve it.

Alonso hasn't enjoyed a flawless pre-season testing this winter, either, as stoppages cost him four hours of track time when he could only record McLaren's third fastest time.

It wasn't a good start for the team's new partnership with Renault - a partnership that was supposed to fix their problems from previously working with Honda.

The questions have been loud enough that McLaren's racing director Eric Boullier has spoken out to dispel them.

"He is happy yes," he said. "Obviously, he’s a competitor so he wants the best of the best and he wants more always.

"Even if you asked Lewis Hamilton 'are you happy?’ he will tell you: 'No I need this, I need that, I want this’, they always want more."

Boullier then explained that Alonso is treating things differently to last year, believing him to have a 'different mindset'.

"Alonso is in a different mindset this year," he explained. "You may have seen actually spending a lot of time here even when not driving the car, so he’s quite interested and supportive of what we’re doing.

"I’m sure he’s happy now."

The big questions, however, were over Alonso's belief in the car.

Boullier has been happy to answer them but arguably doesn't sound too confident with his driver's satisfaction in the vehicle.

"He’s quite happy with the car and the car balance," Boullier said. "There is some suspension work to be done, to work and understand the car, but he’s quite happy with the balance of the car."

The final day of testing did see a turn-around, however, as Alonso recorded the second fastest time behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

That may just be enough to turn that 'quite happy' into something inspiring more confidence.