The race started dry and finished wet when rain fell only a couple of laps from the finish, posing the tough dilemma of whether to gamble on dry tyres to the finish or go for Intermediates.

 

 

 

 

 

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At the start of the race, Alonso starting on the Hard tyre compound which worked in his favor settling into eighth and after multiple drivers pitted around lap 15, he then bumped up to second place.

 

 

 

 

 

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Alonso quickly tracked down the top five after his Mediums pit stop for lap 36. With the danger of rain growing, he pressed on towards the podium positions by passing Ricciardo, Sainz and Perez. 

However, when the rain started to fall, he and his teammate pitted for Intermediates three laps from the finish line. The Spaniard was able to claw his way back to sixth place.

According to Alonso, “We finished sixth, but I think third place is more of a true reflection of our finishing position today. It all came down to luck in the end with the rain coming so late on. It was like a flip of a coin. Some cars stopped one lap earlier and I was in third position when it really started to rain. It was impossible to predict. Nevertheless, sixth is a good result for us and we deserved it. We looked competitive throughout the race, so there are lots of positives to take away.”

Best race of the year so far and podium position until the rain lottery arrived.
P6 are great points for constructors championship 💪.
Great work from the whole team and hopefully we keep this progress into the next races 👍👍😇

Merci @alpinef1team #alpine #f1 #sochi pic.twitter.com/E6QLEakP5o

— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) September 26, 2021

Until next year, Sochi! 👋

Pack down in full swing. See you soon, Turkey. #RussianGP pic.twitter.com/SoH2NDSci4

— Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) September 26, 2021