Polesitter Perez briefly lost the lead to a fast-starting Fernando Alonso on
the run down to Turn 1 on the opening lap, but he reclaimed the lead into the same corner on lap four
He built a pitstop buffer over Verstappen who was charging through the field from 15th on
the grid after a driveshaft failure wrecked his qualifying and looked to be Perez’s biggest threat.
But that buffer evaporated when Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin ground to a halt on lap 18 of 50 and warranted the sole safety car of the race.
That safety car allowed Alonso to serve a five-second time penalty he picked
up for being out of position in his grid spot without losing second place.
who was fourth at the safety car restart but wasted little time in blasting past George Russell and Alonso to move into second behind Perez.