August marks a quieter month for racing in the FIA Formula 3 Championship paddock and in all the support series to Formula 1. During the ‘summer break’, F1 factories shut down while drivers and team personnel take some much-needed time away from the sport and its often gruelling demands.

By Michael McClure

There were multi-week breaks following each of the first three rounds, but the month of July had back-to-back weekends in Great Britain and Austria followed by Round 6 at the Hungaroring three weeks later. After this break, there will be a final triple-header comprising rounds in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy, with cars returning to the track on 26 August at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

Though drivers will have plenty of time to disconnect from the end of this racing season until the start of the next one in 2023, the summer break has extra value because of its placement between the two busiest periods of the year.

During a media roundtable at the Hungaroring, F1 Feeder Series asked F3 drivers Juan Manuel Correa, Franco Colapinto and Jonny Edgar about what they’d be doing during their weeks off from racing.

There’s not much time to relax because the most crucial part of the championship is coming

Juan Manuel Correa

“I’m going to Greece actually next week, and then I’ll be back in England, where I’m based, to train because then we will have the three back-to-backs,” Correa said. “I’ll take a bit of time to disconnect and rest, but also, there’s not much time to relax because the most crucial part of the championship is coming just a few weeks later.”

Colapinto will train in Mallorca, Spain, the largest of the Balearic Islands and a common site for training programmes because of its varied landscapes.

“I’m going to have some holidays at the beginning and then going to go back training. I’m doing it in Mallorca, so it’s really good to do some training on the bike, good to go in the mountains for some training and be close to the beach as well. So [I’m] really happy to do it there and enjoying a lot the summer just to try to get ready for the last three rounds of the season as soon as possible.”

For Cumbrian driver Edgar, a Red Bull junior competing with Trident this year, the break began with a training programme at Red Bull’s base outside of Salzburg, Austria.

“From here, I go straight to Austria to the training [base] Red Bull have, so I’m there for five days,” Edgar said. “It’s only maybe two weeks at home before I go to Italy to do all the simulator and meetings with the team to prepare for the last three rounds, so it’s not really that much time off. It’s pretty busy.”

Header photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool