Am I the only one who hates the summer break?

[Wallio]

Seriously. I mean it was Eddie Jordan's idea but he's long gone now. And yes I know the mechanics have lives, but am I the only one who wouldn't mind the season starting later and maybe ending earlier (November is a bit much, that's handegg season afterall ) and no summer break? Or at the very least move the mid-season test to then, oh wait......

[pasta_maldonado]

Seriously. I mean it was Eddie Jordan's idea but he's long gone now. And yes I know the mechanics have lives, but am I the only one who wouldn't mind the season starting later and maybe ending earlier (November is a bit much, that's handegg season afterall ) and no summer break? Or at the very least move the mid-season test to then, oh wait......

I am fine with the season starting and ending when it does, then there is less time for F1 deprivation to set in! About the mid-season break, I personally find it is too long. The mechanics didn't complain at all about long hours - I suppose, if you can't handle it, don't be a mechanic. Ankther thing - F1 should never, ever, ever give way to handegg

[East Londoner]

This summer break has been awful so far, as F1 Deprivation has combined with Olympics Deprivation to drive me almost insane. And I have my A-level exam results coming out tomorrow. I may not make it to the other side of the season, you'll have to all go on without me.

[mario]

Seriously. I mean it was Eddie Jordan's idea but he's long gone now. And yes I know the mechanics have lives, but am I the only one who wouldn't mind the season starting later and maybe ending earlier (November is a bit much, that's handegg season afterall ) and no summer break? Or at the very least move the mid-season test to then, oh wait......

I am fine with the season starting and ending when it does, then there is less time for F1 deprivation to set in! About the mid-season break, I personally find it is too long. The mechanics didn't complain at all about long hours - I suppose, if you can't handle it, don't be a mechanic. Ankther thing - F1 should never, ever, ever give way to handegg

Some of the mechanics with younger children were complaining about being separated from their families for extended periods of time, and it wasn't just the mechanics who were complaining either (the transport teams, backroom analysts and a whole host of other people who are involved in the running of the team, but not obviously in the picture, were also feeling the strain). After all, the FIA intentionally imposed the curfew regulations (limiting the number of hours that the mechanics can work over a race weekend) because of concerns over fatigue - it was rumoured that they were especially concerned about some of the top teams, Red Bull in particular, were over working their mechanics.

To a certain extent, the summer break is necessary because Bernie is pushing the teams to their limits on the number of races per season - this is officially the longest ever season in the history of the sport (in terms of the number of official races), and with an increasing number of long haul events something eventually has to give.

[LellaLombardi]

Mario has hit the nail on the head on why we have a mid season break. I still don't like it though!

[AdrianSutil]

Well I'm halfway through my first of a two-week security course at College (feels weird being back at 'school') so I've been pretty busy with that, so not had time for Deprivation yet. As for the mid-season break? Five weeks is a bit too long, I remember it used to be 3 weeks back in 1998/99/2000 seasons. Now we have more races yet the summer break is longer

[Stramala]

I have been burying myself into work during the summer break, and when my contract is up at the end of next week I'm taking a holiday with my girlfriend, so basically its as if F1 Deprivation never happened for me. Plus on the Sunday of the Italian GP the remaining members of Pendulum will be doing a DJ set in Edinburgh on Sunday nite followed by an entire week of partying, so I might disappear for a while

We need the summer break really, even during winter the staff are working flat out to develop the next season's car as much as possible, so this really does need to be enforced to give them some sort of stress-free break.

[eurobrun]

Plus on the Sunday of the Italian GP the remaining members of Pendulum will be doing a DJ set in Edinburgh on Sunday nite followed by an entire week of partying, so I might disappear for a while

Just out of curiosity, who are the "reamining members" of Pendulum that you are talking about.

[Stramala]

Plus on the Sunday of the Italian GP the remaining members of Pendulum will be doing a DJ set in Edinburgh on Sunday nite followed by an entire week of partying, so I might disappear for a while

Just out of curiosity, who are the "reamining members" of Pendulum that you are talking about.

Paul Harding & Ben Mount.

[James1978]

Is this the first ever season without a single race in August? At least they could have had Spa the last weekend in August which was previously the norm, rather than the first in September!

[fjackdaw]

Glass half full: We get two "Woo hoo, Formula 1 is back!" per year instead of just one.

[Klon]

To be honest, no. If you want my opinion though, it is needed or we need to have less races a year. During one or two races before summer break begins I tend to almost get bored of F1. Now, however, I am ready for it to come back soon and will be watching with usual enthusiasm.

[14 Hundred Hours]

I'd hate the break if it wasn't in the summer. This way I can go on holiday without missing races, and when I'm back at school I can watch races as a way of avoiding homework. It's almost too convenient...

[QuickYoda41]

During the Olympics, I couldn't feel that anything is missing - now that feeling is starting to develop in me. Summer break is good, but it really should be a week less IMO.

[David AGS]

Well I'm halfway through my first of a two-week security course at College (feels weird being back at 'school') so I've been pretty busy with that, so not had time for Deprivation yet. As for the mid-season break? Five weeks is a bit too long, I remember it used to be 3 weeks back in 1998/99/2000 seasons. Now we have more races yet the summer break is longer

One of the annoying thing in 1999 was the 5 break period between Australia and Brazil (1st and 2nd race). I can understand during the season but not just after the opening round!

[Wallio]

I agree with the mechanics with small kids, my old man was head mechanic on a Pro Mod until I was 6 years old. I could probably count on one hand how man times I'd see him during the summer.

If only there was something to fill the void. Make it testing time, but make the teams hire test mechanics like they used to have and its win win, no deprivation and more jobs! Better yet, lets bring back the Aurora series! Ah hell, if I'm dreaming, I want a Viper.....

And pasta, F1 doesn't give way to handegg per say, but I'm an American, so when I start scrolling for SPEED (bathplugging channel 607!) and my ADD kicks in. Hey! Handegg is on!

[Shizuka]

During the Olympics, I couldn't feel that anything is missing

"A közvetítés támogatója a MindigTV..."
I certainly do NOT miss that ad that was regularly played twice within a minute!
Also, M1 and M2 regularly kept showing "LIVE", despite showing re-runs, or programs delayed with 5 minutes. No comment.

I can somewhat take this break fine, I'm working on some other stuff recently.

[DonTirri]

I am not bothered by one bit. Atleast not at the moment. It fits nicely in to the period of Finnish military service that has the least leaves. So I'm just glad I'm not missing any races while stuck in the goddamn barracks.

[James1978]

Well I'm halfway through my first of a two-week security course at College (feels weird being back at 'school') so I've been pretty busy with that, so not had time for Deprivation yet. As for the mid-season break? Five weeks is a bit too long, I remember it used to be 3 weeks back in 1998/99/2000 seasons. Now we have more races yet the summer break is longer

One of the annoying thing in 1999 was the 5 break period between Australia and Brazil (1st and 2nd race). I can understand during the season but not just after the opening round!

I was at university at the time and I remember getting an e-mail the day after the Australia race off a mate of mine there who also loved F1 that said just simply : "Welcome back to the off-season"!!

[scottgoode]

Between the Tour de France, F1 and the Olympics I was burned out so it is nice that everything is off at the same time.

[AdrianSutil]

Crikey! Is that the longest time between two posts?!

[Phoenix]

Crikey! Is that the longest time between two posts?!

He's clearly the Jan Lammers of F1 Rejects.

[Stramala]

Between the Tour de France, F1 and the Olympics I was burned out so it is nice that everything is off at the same time.

YES! Tour de France. Finally someone mentioned it. I have been missing it ever since Ti-Blanc walked off the podium in Paris

[AndreaModa]

Between the Tour de France, F1 and the Olympics I was burned out so it is nice that everything is off at the same time.

YES! Tour de France. Finally someone mentioned it. I have been missing it ever since Ti-Blanc walked off the podium in Paris

The Vuelta just not doing it for you then?

[Stramala]

Between the Tour de France, F1 and the Olympics I was burned out so it is nice that everything is off at the same time.

YES! Tour de France. Finally someone mentioned it. I have been missing it ever since Ti-Blanc walked off the podium in Paris

The Vuelta just not doing it for you then?

They snub Europcar, I snub them.

[AndreaModa]

They snub Europcar, I snub them.

Tit for tat! I thought you were better than that Kostas!

[jackanderton]

Urgh. How can it be another two weeks til the Grand Prix?

I'm sure in my early memories races came around every fortnight with military precision. These days you can have anywhere from 0-4 races during a calendar month.

[Ferrarist]

It's not like there are other forms of auto racing to explore during the summer break.

[Stramala]

It's not like there are other forms of auto racing to explore during the summer break.

Like what, GT WC? Which had a grand total of 13 entries for Slovakring? The only interesting thing that happened in that race was Winkelhock snatching 2nd from Lauda on the last lap. Nothing else happened. OK, so Jarvis passed Salaquarda for 5th, but still, almost nothing.

[jackanderton]

It's not like there are other forms of auto racing to explore during the summer break.

That's not the point. During any form of auto racing season there shouldn't be more than a 3 week gap between events.

[mario]

It's not like there are other forms of auto racing to explore during the summer break.

That's not the point. During any form of auto racing season there shouldn't be more than a 3 week gap between events.

There is something of a historical precedence for having gaps in excess of three weeks between races though - in 1979, for example, the rounds in Interlagos, Kyalami and Long Beach were around a month apart from each other (the Brazilian GP was on the 4th Feb, the South African GP on 3rd March and the US GP West was on the 8th April). Similarly, 1978 saw several of the opening races spread about a month apart from each other (those same three races were on the 29th Jan, 4th March and 2nd April, with Monaco falling on the 7th May), whilst in 1977 six weeks passed between the Brazilian and South African GP's (the Brazilian GP was on Jan 23rd, the South African GP on the 5th March).

[pasta_maldonado]

It's not like there are other forms of auto racing to explore during the summer break.

That's not the point. During any form of auto racing season there shouldn't be more than a 3 week gap between events.

There is something of a historical precedence for having gaps in excess of three weeks between races though - in 1979, for example, the rounds in Interlagos, Kyalami and Long Beach were around a month apart from each other (the Brazilian GP was on the 4th Feb, the South African GP on 3rd March and the US GP West was on the 8th April). Similarly, 1978 saw several of the opening races spread about a month apart from each other (those same three races were on the 29th Jan, 4th March and 2nd April, with Monaco falling on the 7th May), whilst in 1977 six weeks passed between the Brazilian and South African GP's (the Brazilian GP was on Jan 23rd, the South African GP on the 5th March).

Why was the gaps between the races so big, and why was the Argentine GP held so early in January?

[mario]

It's not like there are other forms of auto racing to explore during the summer break.

That's not the point. During any form of auto racing season there shouldn't be more than a 3 week gap between events.

There is something of a historical precedence for having gaps in excess of three weeks between races though - in 1979, for example, the rounds in Interlagos, Kyalami and Long Beach were around a month apart from each other (the Brazilian GP was on the 4th Feb, the South African GP on 3rd March and the US GP West was on the 8th April). Similarly, 1978 saw several of the opening races spread about a month apart from each other (those same three races were on the 29th Jan, 4th March and 2nd April, with Monaco falling on the 7th May), whilst in 1977 six weeks passed between the Brazilian and South African GP's (the Brazilian GP was on Jan 23rd, the South African GP on the 5th March).

Why was the gaps between the races so big, and why was the Argentine GP held so early in January?

I cannot be certain, but I would hazard a guess that part of the issue would be logistics - I would presume that the teams probably relied partially on commercial shipping (as they still do, to a limited extent) rather than going by air, necessitating a longer gap between the races. Whatever the reason, the organisers seemed to prefer to hold the race very early on in the year - virtually ever single race held before 1980 in Argentina was in January.

[giraurd]

Early spring races must have been exception? I think the original poster's point was that the 'normal' f1 season has race every 14 days and the early Buenos Aires/Kyalami/etc events were hardly a 'normal' part of the 'European' season.

Any modern day examples of mid season breaks, mario, someone else?

(personally I like the break ... I get bored of too much f1 easily, and it's not like being a f1 mechanic should be a 11 month job really)

[Phoenix]

Any modern day examples of mid season breaks, mario, someone else?

Doing some random research at Stats F1, I've discovered that in 1955, for example, there were no races at all in August. While this could maybe be blamed on the fact some races were cancelled that year on the aftermath of the Le Mans Disaster, the following year there was a one month break between the penultimate round of the season at Germany (held on August 5) and the final race at Italy (held on September 2). Not strictly a mid-season break, but it was a "big break" that happened at approximately the same dates, so I put it here for curiosity value.

Similarly, in 1965 the seventh and eight rounds on the calendar (the German and Italian GPs) were held, respectively, on August 1 and September 12.

But, in 2005, there was indeed a nearly one month break between the Hungarian and Turkish GPs, held, respectively, on July 31 and August 21.

I've been pretty selective with my research just to show a few examples, though.

[tommykl]

Any modern day examples of mid season breaks, mario, someone else?

Doing some random research at Stats F1, I've discovered that in 1955, for example, there were no races at all in August. While this could maybe be blamed on the fact some races were cancelled that year on the aftermath of the Le Mans Disaster, the following year there was a one month break between the penultimate round of the season at Germany (held on August 5) and the final race at Italy (held on September 2). Not strictly a mid-season break, but it was a "big break" that happened at approximately the same dates, so I put it here for curiosity value.

Similarly, in 1965 the seventh and eight rounds on the calendar (the German and Italian GPs) were held, respectively, on August 1 and September 12.

But, in 2005, there was indeed a nearly one month break between the Hungarian and Turkish GPs, held, respectively, on July 31 and August 21.

I've been pretty selective with my research just to show a few examples, though.

1950? Two whole months between France on July 2nd and Italy on September 3rd...

[Wizzie]

Any modern day examples of mid season breaks, mario, someone else?

Doing some random research at Stats F1, I've discovered that in 1955, for example, there were no races at all in August. While this could maybe be blamed on the fact some races were cancelled that year on the aftermath of the Le Mans Disaster, the following year there was a one month break between the penultimate round of the season at Germany (held on August 5) and the final race at Italy (held on September 2). Not strictly a mid-season break, but it was a "big break" that happened at approximately the same dates, so I put it here for curiosity value.

But those were two championship races. Remember, that was back in the day when a crapload of non-championship races were run over the course of the year as well.

[AdrianSutil]

Steering it back to 'mid-season boredom' quickly, I've been watching old full-length YouTube videos from the early 90's. I've watched 1990 at Paul Ricard (where Leyton House were two laps away from the shock win) and Monaco 1991 (Senna dominant, Modena retires from 2nd, Moreno 4th and Pirro 6th). This is the era where I thought the cars were at the most aesthetically pleasing and hearing the differences between a V8, V10 and Ferrari V12 down the Mistral straight is just... Stunning. At several points they have the camera along the straight as Gugelmin (Judd V10), Prost (Ferrari V12) and Nannini (Ford V8) follow in a triumvirate and it makes me sad that F1 doesn't do this anymore.

[eurobrun]

Steering it back to 'mid-season boredom' quickly, I've been watching old full-length YouTube videos from the early 90's. I've watched 1990 at Paul Ricard (where Leyton House were two laps away from the shock win) and Monaco 1991 (Senna dominant, Modena retires from 2nd, Moreno 4th and Pirro 6th). This is the era where I thought the cars were at the most aesthetically pleasing and hearing the differences between a V8, V10 and Ferrari V12 down the Mistral straight is just... Stunning. At several points they have the camera along the straight as Gugelmin (Judd V10), Prost (Ferrari V12) and Nannini (Ford V8) follow in a triumvirate and it makes me sad that F1 doesn't do this anymore.

And rejects galore!

I really wish I was alive in the early 90's.

[Phoenix]

Any modern day examples of mid season breaks, mario, someone else?

Doing some random research at Stats F1, I've discovered that in 1955, for example, there were no races at all in August. While this could maybe be blamed on the fact some races were cancelled that year on the aftermath of the Le Mans Disaster, the following year there was a one month break between the penultimate round of the season at Germany (held on August 5) and the final race at Italy (held on September 2). Not strictly a mid-season break, but it was a "big break" that happened at approximately the same dates, so I put it here for curiosity value.

But those were two championship races. Remember, that was back in the day when a crapload of non-championship races were run over the course of the year as well.

Yes, I forgot to explain that, but the point was to look for more situations like that

Still, you didn't have non-championship rounds in 2005.