Perez penalised as Albon escapes punishment in Singapore investigations

Sergio Perez has been handed a five-second time penalty as Singapore Grand Prix stewards felt he was "predominantly to blame" for hitting Alexander Albon.

In the closing laps, Perez tried to dive up the inside of Albon's Williams at Turn 13, but misjudged and barged the Williams out of the way.

The stewards felt that this move from Perez was "optimistic" and could be considered as "diving in" while there was nothing Albon could have done to avoid the collision.

For this, Perez was handed the five-penalty sanction, but it does not change his finishing position of eighth, while he was also issued with one penalty point on his super licence.

The stewards determined that the presence of the slower Liam Lawson ahead meant Perez felt he could overtake Albon, hence why he only received one point.

As for the second incident, this involved the pair crossing the Safety Car 2 line when the Virtual Safety Car was deployed for Esteban Ocon's stricken Alpine.

It was found that Albon was exiting the pits while Perez was on the track, but the two crossed the line at the exact same time, with the timing system unable to determine who crossed it first.

As "definitive" information was not available, the team representatives argued that no penalties should be applied, which the stewards agreed with.

Albon finished 11th.