The McLaren of Oscar Piastri took advantage of the incident and made his way up into P3.
A wheel-to-wheel battle ensued between the two Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon competing for 13th in the closing stages of the lap.
The first lap ended with Verstappen maintaining his lead and Charles Leclerc in second.
Max Verstappen led from Charles Leclerc
Chaotic start for Red Bull
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz fell down to fourth following Perez's mistake, with Piastri finalising the top three.
Perez will feel fortunate to still be in the race, and that he didn't collect other drivers, as a small Lewis Hamilton mistake in Saturday's sprint race did, leaving Lando Norris out of that particular event.
The Mexican driver was investigated by the stewards for a false start, but no further action was taken.