As described in section 24.4 of the FIA’s F1 sporting regulations, there are some activities which will not be considered a breach of summer shutdown rules.
With written FIA permission, repairs can be carried out on cars which were “seriously damaged” during the race immediately preceding the shutdown period; teams can assemble, service and run static show cars (although they cannot use any current car parts); the wind tunnel and CFD simulations can be used for projects with no relation to Formula 1 or by another constructor which is not currently in its own shutdown period; and teams can also engage in any activity with the sole purpose of supporting projects unconnected to F1.
The shutdown period was implemented to ensure staff were able to take time off during the intense F1 season, knowing that no other team was gaining an on-track advantage at the same time
With the F1 calendar expanding to 24 races in 2024, this break is needed more than ever before.
Why does F1 have a summer break?
Entire F1 teams are given a well-earned break after a hectic start to the campaign
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F1’s weekend races and international flights, as well as teams’ constant push to improve performance mean that taking a holiday mid-season isn’t just difficult, it can also give rivals an advantage.
With every hour of work potentially resulting in on-track gains, team members often push themselves to the brink in the hope that their contribution will help push their team forward on the race track.
With little time for engineers, mechanics, team principals and drivers to take breaks into between 24 individual race weekends, a mandatory break is much-needed. For many people, it will be the first genuine period of relaxation since returning from the Christmas break in January.
What do F1 teams do during the summer break?
How each F1 team and its individual departments divides up its time over the F1 summer break will often be determined by when it chooses to start its ‘summer shutdown’ — which enforces any and all areas of the team to stop work completely, except for those which don’t have an impact on the performance of the car itself.
While drivers, engineers, mechanics and team principals can go on holiday or spend time with family during this period, other departments such as marketing, finance, media and legal typically remain functional in order to keep the team ticking over. Essential cleaning and maintenance of the working areas is also be carried out.
However, outside of the ‘summer shutdown’ window, an F1 team and all its employees are allowed to operate as they would during the remainder of the season.
When does F1 return to racing?
In 2024, F1 racing will return at the Dutch Grand Prix, which is due to take place between on August 25.
The schedule quickly picks up speed from there, as the very next weekend the entire grid will be assembled at Monza for the Italian GP on September 1.
Then follows the Azerbaijan GP on September 15, the Singapore GP on September 22, the US GP on October 20, the Mexico City GP on October 27, the Sao Paulo GP on November 3, the Las Vegas GP on November 23, the Qatar GP on December 1 and finally the Abu Dhabi GP on December 8.