During the Singapore Grand Prix, a tense battle unfolded between the Red Bull and Williams cars for the final points-scoring position with just four laps remaining in the race. Sergio Perez, in the Red Bull, attempted to overtake Alexander Albon's Williams on the inside of the circuit's tightest turn, turn 13.
Despite appearing to be several car lengths behind the Williams as they approached the braking zone over the Anderson Bridge, Perez made a daring move to pass on the inside. Unfortunately, as they reached the apex of the turn, the two cars collided, resulting in Albon hitting the barriers.
Following the collision, Perez radioed his team, insisting that he had no room to maneuver. The incident dropped Albon to 14th place, while Perez initially secured the 10th position, later advancing to ninth after overtaking Liam Lawson. The turn of events continued when George Russell crashed on the final lap, promoting Perez to eighth place at the checkered flag. In contrast, Albon finished the race in 12th position.
Stewards conducted an investigation into the collision and ultimately found Perez to be "predominantly to blame." They described Perez's move as "an 'optimistic' late maneuver," characterized by him "diving in," with no opportunity for Albon to avoid the collision. Consequently, Perez received a five-second time penalty for the incident, along with a single penalty point on his superlicence, bringing his total to three. However, Perez retained his eighth position because Lawson finished more than 10 seconds behind him.
Albon expressed frustration, believing that Perez's aggressive move had cost him the chance to score points in the race. He recounted the incident as a "divebomb" into turn 13, resulting in a collision that sent him into the wall, ultimately relegating him to 11th place.
The race stewards also examined an earlier incident involving Albon and Perez. Allegations arose that Albon had passed Perez under the Virtual Safety Car conditions. When Esteban Ocon retired from the race due to a gearbox problem on lap 43, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed. Albon, who was in 11th place, made a pit stop for medium tires and emerged from the pits just ahead of Perez. The two cars crossed the Safety Car line at the pit lane exit almost simultaneously.
Perez briefly moved ahead, but Albon managed to pass the Red Bull on the way to turn four, asserting that he had been ahead at the line. However, the stewards opted not to take any action regarding this incident. They cited the timing system's inability to determine a difference in their respective arrival times at "Safety Car Line Two." Furthermore, video footage of the incident was deemed inconclusive, leading both Red Bull and Williams to concur that no further action was warranted.
