F1 Summer break: Driver holidays
7 August 2010 – Between the Hungarian and Belgian Grands Prix, Formula 1 hibernates for its school-like August summer holidays. With a month of no racing and compulsory two-week factory shutdowns, the period provides an ideal holiday time for fans and drivers alike.
Courtesy of a GPUpdate.net holiday investigation, we can reveal that championship leader Mark Webber will be spending part of the break in the south of France although Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel was less sure of where he would be as the holidays began, but knowing that training will be a key part of his time off.
Teams have selected various periods in which to close, with McLaren having chosen the earliest possible option of shutting from Monday of this week until next Sunday – the same pattern as the likes of Mercedes and Williams.
World Champion Jenson Button returns to the isle of Guernsey for final preparations ahead of Sunday’s London triathlon, with Spanish title-winning counterpart Fernando Alonso electing to enjoy his holidays between current country of residence Switzerland and home nation Spain with family members and friends.
Adrian Sutil has decided to spend the majority of his time in Switzerland whereas Force India partner Vitantonio Liuzzi is visiting family and friends at home in Italy.
With four drivers on their pay roll, Hispania representatives will be spread out across three continents, with Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok in their native venues of São Paulo and India, Sakon Yamamoto in his homeland Japan but Austria’s Christian Klien electing to travel to Switzerland as well as spending several days in Alicante, Spain.
