Fernando Alonso says McLaren-Honda's straight-line speed deficit in Russia is "unbelievable", thanks to an underperforming power unit, which has been the source of much of his complaints this year.
Alonso reckons he lost between 2.5 and 3 seconds on the straights during qualifying, with half of that in the first sector alone.
"It's unbelievable how much we lose on the straights," said Alonso after qualifying P15, 3.5 seconds down on Sebastian Vettel's pole position lap.
"I think it was 1.3s in the first sector and there's just one corner and we have no problems there, so that's what we have. On the straights we lose 2.5-3 seconds on this circuit."
Alonso is doubtful that McLaren will be able to mount any form of fightback in race trim.
"More or less what we saw in Bahrain, what we saw in China, in Australia, what we'll see in Spain, in Monaco, Canada," he said when asked of McLaren's race prospects.
"Every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday I stand here before you and I try to answer in the most polite manner but it's going to be a bit monotonous, a bit of the same story like it's always been in Formula 1.
"We can already say that Ferrari and Mercedes will fight for victory this year, that Red Bull will try to be on the podium, that Williams will be in the points, and the rest we'll try to grab a point when the rest allow it.
"So we'll try to have a perfect race but aware of our limitations."
