What is F1's summer break, how long is it and why does it happen?

After the Belgian Grand Prix, it will be just a month before there is any official on-track Formula 1 action.

That comes over the weekend of August 25-27 for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort as F1 heads into shutdown for most of the month, meaning all involved in Grand Prix get three weeks away from the track after a run of 12 Grands Prix in just 21 weeks since the Bahrain opener.

What is the F1 summer break, how long is it and why does it even happen in the first place? RacingNews365 explains all.

What is the F1 summer break?

The F1 summer break is a mandated shutdown for all the teams and their factories over a 14-day period after the last Grand Prix in July.

It is enshrined in the Sporting Regulations with Article 21.8 detailing that there must be a "shutdown period of 14 consecutive days during the months of July and / or August."

No car development, design or production of new parts is permitted during the shutdown, during which time only basic functions of the factory are allowed to continue to enable the team to keep ticking over until the end of the 14 days.

Wind-tunnels are shut down, although maintenance and routine servicing work is permitted.

Departments such as marketing, legal and finance, which generally don't have an impact on car performance, are allowed to keep operating.

Why does F1 have a shutdown?

Essentially, F1 has a summer break to ensure that personnel working within Grand Prix racing are guaranteed some time off to spend with family and friends.

Christmas and new year are usually uber-busy times for teams as they complete their cars for the new season, with pre-season testing taking place in February before the season itself begins in March.

The calendar then crisscrosses the globe throughout the year before a season-end in November or December.

The summer break is in place to ensure that F1 personnel get two weeks to spend with their loved ones in the middle of the season, applying from bosses like Toto Wolff or Christian Horner down to the mechanics.

Teams can take their summer break at any point in the allowed period, but usually take the middle 14 days of August.

This is so the cars can be returned to the factory after the final race and preparation can begin for the first race back in the week leading up to it.

When does F1 return?

The Dutch Grand Prix resumes the season after the break, with Zandvoort set to host action across 25-27 August.

It will begin a run of 10 races in just 14 weeks, including the flyaways to races such as Singapore, Japan, the United States and for the first time since 1982, Las Vegas.