Alpine "hopeful" of Saturday qualifying despite heavy Sochi rain

Alpine remains "hopeful" qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix will take place on Saturday despite the treacherous conditions.

After the opening F2 race of the weekend was cancelled, final practice in Sochi was abandoned as heavy rain fell and lightning lit up the Russian skies.

FIA race director Michael Masi said "we will look at the day ahead and take it step by step" with light to be the determining factor for Saturday running.

But looking at its own forecast, Alpine believes there to be an opportunity to complete qualifying on its scheduled day.

"Our current forecast suggests the rain will lighten this afternoon, so we remain hopeful of a full qualifying session later," said an Alpine spokesperson.

"The light will be the main concern at this point, with sunset just after 18:15 local time.

"Tomorrow looks like it could be dry, so if we don’t run today then there is a chance qualifying and the race will happen then."

Should it not be possible for qualifying to take place either on Saturday afternoon or on Sunday morning, the FP2 results would be used to determine the grid.

Conceding the chance of this outcome to be "slim", it would position Esteban Ocon fifth and Fernando Alonso seventh after Max Verstappen's back of the grid penalty is applied.

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