FORMULA ONE drivers risk suffering dangerous tyre blowouts in Abu Dhabi due to new Toblerone-style kerbs.
Track chiefs have reprofiled some sections of the track to create new sweeping bends to increase the top speed and hopefully lead to more overtaking.
However, the new kerbs they have installed have stunned teams, who were not expecting them to be so harsh.
It comes after a spate of blowouts in the Qatar GP – where there were similar raised kerbs around the track.
Tyre supplier Pirelli did a thorough investigation after those failures and concluded they were caused by drivers running over the red and white markings.
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, Williams pair George Russell and Nicholas Latifi as well as McLaren’s Lando Norris all had punctures on their front left tyres at Losail.
Pirelli said in a statement at the Saudi Grand Prix: “Based on the findings obtained so far, the origin of the problem is mainly due to the amount of time these tyres were run on the kerbs, at high speed and with considerable lateral and vertical loads.”
Abu Dhabi is the setting for the final showdown in arguably the greatest title tussle in F1 history.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen go into their final Grand Prix of the season level on points.
The rivalry between the two star drivers reached boiling point at the British Grand Prix in the summer.
The two F1 stars crashed at Silverstone when the British hero tagged the rear right of the Dutchman’s car and sent him hurtling into the barriers at 180mph.
Verstappen then collided with the Mercedes star in Saudi Arabia this month and has been hit with a 10-second penalty.
