The FIA has taken measures at Austin to prevent a repeat of the controversy that marred last year's US Grand Prix, when Max Verstappen was stripped of third place for exceeding track limits at COTA.
The Red Bull driver had overtaken Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen on the ultimate lap of the race following a bold maneuver that had seen the Dutchman cut Turn 17, with all four wheels off the track.
Verstappen was subsequently hit with a five-second time penalty by the US GP stewards, a controversial decision that angered the driver and many F1 fans, the 21-year-old claiming in the aftermath of the incident that penalties were "killing the sport".
For this week's event, F1's governing body has therefore decided to install two new kerbs behind the apex of Turns 16 and 17, a move that should deter Verstappen or any other driver from pulling off a daring overtaking move on the inside of those zones.
Furthermore, there will be two DRS zones at COTA. The detection point of the first will be 150m after Turn 10, with the activation point 250m after Turn 11.
The second zone's detection point will be 65m after Turn 18, with the activation point 80mafter Turn 20, on the start/finish straight.
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