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The FIA has made alterations to the kerb that sits on the exit of Turn 20 at the Yas Marina Circuit following a number of complaints from drivers on Friday. For the weekend's action, a 50mm kerb was installed to stop drivers from running wide and potentially gaining an advantage.
However after the two practice sessions on Friday, Haas F1 driver and head of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association Romain Grosjean slammed the kerb, claiming that it was not up to F1's standards. The kerb was seen to be breaking up during the session, offering a fresh danger of punctured tyres.
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Max Verstappen found himself beached onto it during the second practice session, and had no control of his Red Bull as he rid along the length of it until his wheels made contact with the track surface following the end of the kerb before the final corner.
The matter was brought up in the driver's briefing on Friday evening, and drivers are confident that the matter will be resolved before running gets underway on Saturday afternoon.
"It should be better for tomorrow," said Force India's Esteban Ocon. "[But it] doesn't need to be as high as it is. You probably can lose time being on it and lose some load etc., but the problem is now if we go on it and break everything – so it could be dangerous."
Toro Rosso's Brendon Hartley stated that he was all for introducing physical means to enforce track limits, but admits that the kerb in question was too high for the F1 cars.
"You have to give the entry more respect," he said. "I'm all for it. Maybe it's potentially a bit high, especially if you go over it and you're effectively a passenger. We have to make sure cars aren't getting damaged unnecessarily for going off in a small way."
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C. Sainz jr
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xoya
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Stay off it and problem solved.