At the start, polesitter Verstappen swung right after leaving the line to cut off the momentum of fellow front-row starter Carlos Sainz, but the Ferrari – on soft tyres versus the mediums on the Red Bull – got a slipstream and attacked on the outside line at Turn 1.
Verstappen was therefore forced to run very deep as he defended hard from the inside line but kept enough of his car on the track to stay within the rules in what was the only moment he was under serious pressure all day.
