What is F1’s summer break, why does it happen and how long is it?

After a gruelling run of 13 races in 20 weeks, the Formula 1 paddock heads into a summer break in August immediately after the Hungarian GP.

There will be no official F1 track action for an entire month, with the teams reconvening at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps on the 26-28 August.

That means over three weeks off from the grind of the F1 circus and travelling the world, and while all involved will get to enjoy some well-deserved time off, it doesn’t mean everything shuts down for the entire period.

What is Formula 1’s summer break?

The F1 summer break is so vital to each season that it is written into the sporting regulations, with penalties for teams who do not adhere to the rules.

In an overarching sense, the F1 summer break is the period between the final race in July – for 2022 this is the Hungarian GP on 29-31 July – until the first race back in late August or early September. This year that’s the Belgian GP on 26-28 August.

For the teams, when they have no races or official tests to attend or prepare for until the F1 summer break ends, there is also a mandatory team factory shutdown where work is severally restricted to just the basic functions to ensure the team ticks over.

This rule is implemented by Article 21.8 of the FIA F1 sporting regulations: “All competitors must observe a shutdown period of fourteen (14) consecutive days during the months of July and / or August.”

In this period teams cannot work on car design, development or parts production, including planning or hold meetings.

Windtunnels or machining parts are also not allowed to be run at any time during the 14-day period, but essential work like service and maintenance is permitted.

Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR22, makes a pit stop during FP2

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

F1 teams can repair damaged cars but need to gain FIA permission to operate, while any tasks that are not related to the F1 team are permitted.

F1 teams are allowed to activate its 14-day shutdown period at any time within the summer break, with the majority of teams opting for a middle two weeks to provide time to unpack from the previous race and prepare for the next race after the shutdown.

But F1 teams don’t need to run the 14-day shutdown at the same time, so some teams may start or finish the period earlier than others.

The summer break was still used during the COVID-19-affected 2020 season,…