After Chinese GP cancellation, who are the winners of F1’s spring break? Not the

Most years, the Formula One calendar starts thick and fast, covering a run of long-haul races before returning to Europe in May. The time between tracks — never more than two weeks — is largely spent at the factory, as drivers work with their teams in the simulator to try and improve their cars.

So how did Alex Albon of Williams end up on a Hawaiian vacation in April, spending his time snorkeling, golfing and stargazing?

Thank F1’s “spring break,” an accidental four-week gap in the calendar between the Australian GP on April 2 and the Azerbaijan GP in Baku on April 30. To get so much time off just three races into the season is a rarity in F1, and Albon is evidence that drivers are making the most of it — even if most would rather be in the cockpit.

But for the hundreds of team crew members that travel to every race of the year, spending weeks at a time away from their families and loved ones, getting this chunk of time off amid F1’s record-breaking 23-race calendar is badly-needed respite.

How did F1 end up with a spring break?

Originally, the Chinese Grand Prix was scheduled for April 16, keeping the cadence of a race every two weeks until the Azerbaijan-Miami back-to-back. F1 has not raced in Shanghai since 2019 due to Covid-19 restrictions, which ultimately forced the race to be called off once again, back in December.

F1 explored options to fill the gap, but the sequence of races made it tricky. It was logistically expensive to add a race in Europe at a venue such as Portimão in Portugal, between the flyaways (races outside of Europe that teams fly to instead of driving trucks of cargo) of Australia and Azerbaijan. Organizers considered moving the Baku race up a week to reduce the gap, but officials in Azerbaijan were committed to the original date.

So drivers get a gap they can use for a mix of work and play, resting up ahead of the busy remainder of the season while also working in the simulator and at the factory with their teams.

And the teams — especially those like Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes, which haven’t had the start they’d hoped for — get a golden opportunity to work on developments and new parts for their cars without the pressures of race weekends. That is why Baku is set to be the first race where teams debut notable updates on their cars.

Racers want to race

“We’ll take this as an opportunity to work as much as possible to get upgrades as quickly as possible, and be as competitive as we want the sooner in this season,” said Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. “We’ll try to use these weeks in the best way possible.”

But for Leclerc himself, after what he has labeled his “worst ever start” to a season thanks to two retirements in three races, the break isn’t such a good thing. “I like not having a big break whenever things are going bad,” he said.

Lewis Hamilton takes the same view. “It’s good for the team to settle down and focus and churn away during that time,…