Hi all
I think I have a workaround.
I have used GPIO3, which boots fine either in a LOW or HIGH state.
I have removed any Serial.... statement in the code to be 100% sure I do not summon the serial port as GPIO3 is RX
I have removed the voltage divider and used an AMS1117 converter which takes in the 12V and converts to 3.3v
The behavior is now as it should.
Thanks @wvmarie for your insights and link to the page!!