Red Bull's championship leader was down in fifth after the first barrage of Q3 runs. Amid scintillating pole bids by Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Alonso, Verstappen then had the last word as the chequered flag dropped.
Despite two personal bests, he was still trailing Aston Martin driver Alonso heading into the final sector, but with a stunning recovery, his 1m11.365s effort pipped the Spaniard at the line by 0.084 seconds.
