McLaren F1 chief Ron Dennis 'chuckled' at Fernando Alonso stunts

Alonso drew plenty of attention to McLaren-Honda's 2015 plight when he sat trackside after his car failed in Q1 at Interlagos, later joking that he would take suntanning lotion with him to Abu Dhabi for the season finale.

The images of the two-time world champion were also made fun of on social media, but Dennis said he had no problem with the publicity Alonso attracted.

Speaking to the official F1 website about the incident, Dennis said: "I chuckled to myself, to be honest.

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. There's nothing wrong with a bit of humour.

"Fernando is as hard-working as he is talented, be in no doubt of that.

"He's matured enormously since he last drove for us, eight years ago, and he's now one of the most complete drivers I've ever had the pleasure of working with."

After Dennis and Alonso caused confusion in Abu Dhabi over the possibility of the Spaniard taking a sabbatical if McLaren's 2016 car is not competitive enough - which both parties later clarified - Dennis said there is no such wriggle room in their contract.

"Fernando's contract is of three years' duration - no performance clauses, no nothing," he added.

"He always knew that 2015 would be a learning year. He joined us with open eyes.

"He knows equally well that, together with Honda, we'll make big improvements.

"He's had better years than 2015, obviously, but he knows that great years lie ahead of him with McLaren-Honda."