Why is F1 off for almost a month after the Singapore Grand Prix?

F1 is undergoing another break in its calendar as its next race, the United States GP, is not until the 20 October which comes almost a month after the Singapore GP on the 22 September. 

That means three weekends without grand prix racing, a break that sounds illogical because the summer shutdown recently happened. So why is this the case?

Why is there a month until the next F1 race?

The 2024 F1 calendar saw the championship place greater importance on grouping races together by their geographical location. So, the Azerbaijan GP was moved from April to September meaning it was the race between Monza and Singapore, while Qatar has been given the penultimate round as part of a back-to-back with Abu Dhabi.

Last year the Japanese GP was only a week after the Singapore GP but the Suzuka-based round was moved to the spring of 2024 so that it could be paired with China. This left a gap after Singapore and the decision to move the Japanese GP was agreed too late for organisers of other grands prix to change the date of their event as well.

That’s because there are many other factors to consider when deciding on the date of a grand prix, such as existing contracts and a country’s climate. Taking Miami for example, its grand prix happens in May because if staged later in the year there would be a risk of entering hurricane season. 

So there was little room for manoeuvre, especially because the Singapore GP was already set to take place on the 20-22 September, as the Marina Bay circuit is a street track, where the city gets shut down and that obviously requires a lot of planning.

F1’s plan B was to move the United States GP forward, but as it is part of a triple-header with Mexico and Brazil that could not happen.

And Qatar? Leaving it on its 2023 date (in 2024 it would have been the 4-6 October) would be enough to avoid such a big break. But, at last year’s grand prix teams and drivers faced extreme weather conditions – Logan Sargeant retired because of a heatstroke – so it needed to be pushed further back in the year.

So when Japan’s date was changed, none of the other races could be moved and this four-week gap between Singapore and Austin was created.

Are teams and drivers forced to rest and close their factories during this F1 break?

F1 teams are not forced to rest and close their factories between the Singapore and United States GPs. That’s because the series has already had its fixed break in August, where there are a mandatory 14 rest days.

When is the next F1 race after the break?

The United States GP in Austin will host the 19th round of the 2024 F1 season, in which it will be a sprint race weekend. This means there will be just one practice session, due to take place on the Friday morning, before sprint qualifying that afternoon.

This will set the grid for the sprint race on Saturday morning, before grand prix qualifying on Saturday afternoon ahead of Sunday’s main race. 

The United States GP will begin a hectic resumption of the calendar, as it is the first of six grands prix over a seven-week period which concludes with the Abu Dhabi GP on the 6-8 December.

What are the remaining rounds of the 2024 F1 season?