Valtteri Bottas thinks Williams was lucky to only lose four points to Force India at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Force India moved back ahead of Williams in the battle for fourth by a point at Yas Marina thanks to Sergio Perez finishing eighth. Both Williams drivers finished out of the points, while Perez's teammate Nico Hulkenberg was tagged at the start and crashed out of the race.
Williams expected a difficult weekend in Singapore and Bottas thinks it could have surrendered a lot more points to its main rivals.
"I think we were kind of lucky," Bottas confessed after the race. "Both Felipe and I had bad races, even in his case the pace wasn't there, but one of the Force India retired and Perez, starting from the back was only 8th.
"We were lucky ... it was also a missed opportunity to get a bigger gap over them. The difference now between the two teams is next to none, there are a few good races to come for us, so it's going to be a good fight."
Bottas thinks the team's fortunes will begin to improve at the next race, the Malaysian Grand Prix.
"I think [Sepang] will be better for us, better for our car. Obviously it will be very hot again, so managing the tyres is going to be important. I think between Force India and us it's going to be very close. Hopefully we'll have the upper hand this time around."