Alonso: Sochi will reveal McLaren's true performance

Fernando Alonso believes that the track in Sochi for the Russian Grand Prix will provide an accurate indicator of McLaren's "true performance" potential in the 2018 season after a series of circuits in which the British team has struggled for form.

Following a change of engine provider from Honda to Renault, McLaren were expected to improve this year and potentially be the fourth best team behind the elite trio of Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull.

However, several reliability issues, strategy mistakes, and a lack of power have meant that they are down in sixth in the constructors' championship.

Alonso is expecting another tough weekend in Russia for McLaren, but reckons their showing will be a good indicator of where they are in the midfield battle.

“In a way, it’s a weekend to prove our true performance,” Alonso said.

“I think we’ve been in quite extreme circuits lately, Spa and Monza probably the two weak circuits of our package. Maybe Singapore was one of the best for our package. We know the circuit and we adapt quite quickly there.

“I think we could be somewhere in the middle of this performance on a normal circuit, but at the same time we’ve been introducing some new pieces in the car aerodynamically in the last two or three grands prix, which would be a good place to confirm if we’re in the right direction.

“We expect a tough weekend anyway, because that’s the way it is and the characteristics of Sochi will not be the same as Singapore, we know that.”

Alonso is currently eighth in the drivers' championship, and recently announced his departure from F1 in favour of his pursuit of the motorsport 'triple crown' which includes wins at the Monaco GP, the Indianapolis 500, and Le Mans,

MORE: Hamilton insists he doesn't have 'one hand' on the title
MORE: Vettel won't seek mental help in Hamilton fight