12 races down, 12 to go. It’s still anyone’s to win or lose. Coming straight back from summer break, it’s all eyes forward. So what do the drivers do during the off-season to relax while staying prepared for the second half of the season?
Holidays
A classic choice for ultimate relaxation during the summer break. Soaking up the sun in a foreign country would be enough to easily clear any driver’s head before getting back to training. A choice many people opted for.
One of these drivers being reigning World Champion Lando Norris. Lando made the most of his time off by jet-setting away to Ibiza to watch his close friend and DJ Martin Garrix at a nightclub. Even making an appearance on the stage at one point. Lucky enough to experience two holidays this time around, he then set his sights on Athens and Kefalonia in Greece.
Others who opted to do the same include current championship leader Kimi Antonelli as well as Ollie Bearman, Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez and teammates Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.
Kimi spent his time in Sardinia, Italy, with Toto Wolff and his wife Susie. He also spent a brief amount of time in Greece on a jet ski.
Ollie Bearman opted for a more close-to-home holiday in Sweden. Where he visited a local karting track, trying to break a lap record, and did so successfully in 29 seconds. He took his girlfriend along for the journey, who has the photos to prove it.
Some holidays were longer than others, as Alex Albon spent less than 24 hours in South Africa, where he met with the president and soaked up the local culture. Meanwhile, his teammate Carlos Sainz visited his parents in Mallorca, Spain, accompanied by his girlfriend, Rebecca Donaldson.
Milestones and Achievements
For a few of the drivers, congratulations are in order. Those being George Russell and Charles Leclerc. An engagement and having a baby on the way are huge milestones in life.
For George and Carmen, it’s been a long time coming. They’ve been together since 2020, and on August 9th George finally proposed. A beachside proposal was the choice and it seemed to have gone down a treat, as they are now engaged. An Instagram post by George confirmed this.
On the other hand, neither Charles nor Alexandra has confirmed that they have a baby on the way. Fans have speculated for a little while now however, recently both of their posts seem to feature Alexandra rocking a baby bump. Even though this hasn’t been announced by either of them, it appears that they’ll soon be welcoming a baby.
Valtteri Bottas also celebrated an achievement over the summer break as he competed in the UCI Cycling Gravel Series.
Business As Usual
For most of the drivers, training will certainly be a main focus even during the off-season. Oscar Piastri being one of them, taking it extra seriously.
Oscar spent his summer break on the simulators in order to be as prepared as possible before Zandvoort. He finds them a beneficial part of racing and helpful in ways of preparation throughout the season.
Fernando Alonso also spent most of his summer break training and staying in shape. As well as spending time with his family since welcoming a child earlier on in the season.
Out Of the Ordinary
Some drivers spent their summer break in a bit more of an unusual way. Such as Pierre Gasly attending the Esports World Cup in France.
For Marvel lovers, Esteban Ocon (a huge Marvel fan himself) attended the Spider-Man: Brand New Day premiere where he debuted a stylish accessory. He showed up to the premiere with a Spider-Man helmet at his side.
Two of the drivers also celebrated birthdays with their families. Both Niko Hulkenberg and Arvid Lindblad’s birthdays fell during the summer break this year. Niko was gifted a LEGO steering wheel as a birthday gift from LEGO.
Speaking of popular brands, KitKat have partnered with Gabriel Bortoleto to create a KitKat with his face on it. Not many people can say they’ve had their face on a KitKat.
Lewis Hamilton and Liam Lawson can say they had a more motor-related summer break. Lewis Hamilton got his dream car finished and proudly posted photos of his new F40. Liam Lawson opted for dirt biking as his way of letting off steam before racing again.
Our final two drivers weren’t as fortunate during their time off as Isack Hadjar and Franco Colapinto seem to have gotten the short end of the stick. Colapinto tried to have a relaxing holiday in Italy, however got robbed in the process, confirming so on social media.
Meanwhile Hadjar sustained a wrist injury whilst boxing, which saw him sit out of the Dutch Grand Prix, and he will now miss Monza too.
Resigning’s
To conclude the summer break, some drivers were resigned for another season if not more. The drivers that were fortunate enough to do so were Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto. This means a couple more teams have locked in their driver lineups for 2027.
Featured image credits: Em Everyday Living via Pexels
