Alonso spent the final 35 minutes of the 90-minute session at Interlagos looking on from the sidelines after he was forced to pull his McLaren off track due to a data anomaly found in the ERS water pressure.

He said what he saw from the trackside - and from an FOM camera he commandeered for a spell - left him bored.

"Fans want to see fast cars, something where you cannot close your mouth after you see the car passing," said Alonso

"I was 30 minutes today outside the circuit and I was sleeping.

"Thankfully I found this chair and this camera. If not, it's impossible [to watch].

"We should pay the people who are in the grandstands to watch the cars passing."

Alonso at least provided one of the highlights of the day when invited to take control of the TV camera, a year on from causing a social media sensation when he found a deckchair to sit in after his McLaren failed early in Interlagos qualifying.

"I need to get up to speed with technology and improve my skills with that joystick [that controls the camera] now, which seems very, very sensitive," said Alonso.

"They told me over the radio they would broadcast from that camera [Sergio] Perez arriving, so I tried to find Perez, but I found the sky and the asphalt instead, but not Perez!

"I feel very bad about my poor performance with the camera. I am thinking of going back later on to have some practice with that camera with the Porsche Cup in case tomorrow I stop again.

https://streamable.com/ppb2

Dennis currently holds a 25% stake in the McLaren Group, with a further 25% owned by long-time business partner Mansour Ojjeh, and the remaining 50% in the hands of Bahrain sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat.

It is understood Ojjeh and Mumtalakat responded to Dennis's takeover plot with their own counter-measure to remove him from office.

Sky News has reported Dennis was recently in the High Court seeking an injunction against a move to place him on gardening leave until his contract expires.

It has been suggested the High Court rejected such a course of action.