F1's summer break: why racing shuts down for a month mid-season

July 24th 2024 - Last updated: July 25th 2024

Racing will pause for F1's summer break after the Belgian Grand Prix, giving team members a chance for a holiday before the season run-in. Here's why it happens, how long it lasts and details of the summer shutdown that forces factories to close

Time to kick back: what is F1's summer breaK?

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Author

Cambridge Kisby

After fourteen high-octane race weekends, the Formula 1 summer break begins after the Belgian Grand Prix. The four-week pause in racing incorporates a two-week summer shutdown, where racing staff are banned from working.

With eleven grands prix still left to run over an intense schedule that includes four races in five weeks, this mandated break forces teams and drivers to slow down and refresh, safe in the knowledge that other teams are doing the same and nobody is falling behind.

Outside of the shutdown, the other two weeks of the summer break are spent preparing for the final part of the season where — this year at least — the race for the championship could go down to the wire.

When and what is the F1 summer break?

F1’s official summer break in 2024 starts the day after the Belgian Grand Prix on Monday July 29 and lasts until Friday August 23 — which marks the start of the Dutch GP race weekend.

This gives teams and drivers four weeks to take a break from the almost constant on-track action and refresh before tackling the remaining 11 races of the season.

What is the F1 summer shutdown?

McLaren Technology Centre Woking — F1’s bases will soon look relatively dormant during the mandatory summer shutdown period

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During the four-week summer break, there is also a ‘summer shutdown’ — an FIA mandated period in which F1 teams cannot work on car design, develop or produce parts or even plan or hold official meetings for 14 consecutive days. The usage of the wind tunnel is also banned under F1’s sporting regulations, as is the machining of any parts. Should any team participate in any of these activities, they can be penalised at the discretion of the FIA, racing’s governing body.

It’s up to each team when the 14-day period starts and ends, but the majority choose to have it somewhere in the middle two-weeks — allowing its employees to debrief and develop after the Belgian GP before coming back a week before the Dutch GP to complete their regular race build-up. Each team must notify the FIA on the start and end dates of their summer shutdowns.

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?

Ferrari pitcrew Charles Leclerc 2024 Chinese Grand Prix — 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.