An early result of the cost cuts was that testing was reduced to only three days while team spending in operational budgets this year is capped at $145 million (122 million euros). A further reduction to 140 million is planned for 2022 when the sport's latest radical overhaul is set to be introduced.
The 23-year-old Dutchman converted pole position to an unchallenged victory nearly 16 seconds ahead of Mercedes pair Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen's time was 0.025 seconds quicker than Valtteri Bottas, who urged on by team boss Toto Wolff over the team radio, still put his Mercedes on the front row.