Alonso "would like to be invisible" amidst tributes

Retiring McLaren driver Fernando Alonso has admitted that he feels a bit embarrassed by all the tributes he's getting this weekend in Abu Dhabi, as the 37-year-old will retire from Formula 1 after Sunday's race.

In his 17-year career, Alonso has won two titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006, becoming the youngest champion in F1 history at the time. That record would be broken by Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and thát record would be broken by Sebastian Vettel in 2010, but it's a phenomenal feat nonetheless.

The Spaniard will suit up one last time for McLaren on Sunday after finishing 15th in qualifying, which exceeded the team's expectations heading into the weekend.

READ: Alonso "thought Q2 was impossible" in last qualifying

"All these tributes are a bit embarrassing for me - I'm shier than people think and I want it go by quickly," Alonso admitted to Autosport.

"I would like to be invisible until Monday, but I'll have to be here and talk a bit."

Alonso finished the qualifying session on Saturday in P15, ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne for the 21st time this season. He got out of Q1, which certainly isn't a given for McLaren at this stage.

"We knew that Q1 would be difficult so we decided to use three sets of tyres to try and it worked out.

"We made it out of Q1, which was a surprise and not in our plans.

"The lap was good and I'm happy to have driven on the limit again to round out a perfect year in terms of qualifying: 21-0 with the same car.

"I think no one else did that and I'm happy to have that at least."