The Marina Bay track wasn’t expected to suit Williams but Albon had a solid race, and a stop for new tyres under the Virtual Safety Car – mirroring the strategy used by Mercedes – gave him extra pace in the latter stages of the race.
Albon was in 10th and closing on Liam Lawson when Perez made contact as he tried to overtake in a late race incident that wasn’t shown on TV.
The Red Bull driver subsequently received a five-second penalty and a penalty point on his licence.
Albon recovered to finish 11th, but Vowles says that he would have passed Lawson and then moved up to eighth when George Russell crashed on the final lap.
Thus the Perez incident in effect cost Williams four points, while gifting a point to AlphaTauri through Lawson, and one to Haas via 10th place finisher Kevin Magnussen.
With seven races to go Williams lies seventh in the World Championship on 21 points, ahead of Haas on 12, Alfa Romeo on 10, and AlphaTauri on five, with each place difference representing millions in prize money.
"Quite a few points on the table were taken away," Volwes told Autosport. “It is frustrating that when you're in a championship that's being fought down to the point, and you're leading against your direct rivals in this championship, to have it taken away from you hurts.
Source: Autosport