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“Where am I going for the summer break? I still don’t know.” That Oscar hasn’t yet had the time to plan his holidays is precisely why the summer shutdown is so important.

Oscar’s first half-season in Formula 1 has flown by, with 11 rounds in just 21 weeks (12 if you include the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix). The second half will be even more demanding, with 10 races in 14 weeks. Lando’s been doing this for five years now, with the last three of those being 22-round seasons.

Recovery is key to maintaining high performance during such a jam-packed schedule, but they don’t have long to rest. Racing will resume on 25 August following an official two-week-long shutdown, leaving them with a limited window of time to reset.

By now, Lando is well-versed in fitting a lot into a short space of time. Plans are interchangeable and entirely flexible, and it will be much the same for Oscar, even if he isn’t used to managing quite such a hectic schedule. Every driver has their own way of shutting off, but no one ever questions the importance of it.

The advent of social media means we know what drivers are doing at almost any hour of the day, but the summer break remains something of a mystery. Socials are updated sporadically, but drivers largely go a little quiet, at least in comparison to their usual standard.

So, what exactly happens during a summer break, and how will Lando and Oscar spend theirs?

Given the copious amount of time they spend travelling during the year, you'd think there would be a temptation to live out the shutdown at home, but it's one of the few opportunities they get to travel purely for leisure, and so the temptation to not go away is often overridden by the desire to make the most of that.

But, they won’t go very far…

“We don’t have long, so it will be somewhere reasonably close to the UK, given that is where I live,” says Oscar. “Probably somewhere in Europe. Hopefully, somewhere that is warm and by the ocean - that narrows it down quite significantly. I will plan something in the next few days.”

Many will be asking why Oscar doesn’t travel back to Australia, but with a 21+ hour flight there and back, he’d lose two days to travel and just as long to jetlag, which isn’t exactly ideal when you’re trying to recover and relax.

Plus, it is currently winter in Australia, so it’s cold and not particularly sunny, which lessens the appeal. Granted, the United Kingdom isn’t any better right now, but most of Europe is enjoying an especially warm summer.

Speaking in Belgium ahead of the summer break, Lando and Oscar’s plans remain loose, and that's entirely by design. With so much of their existence spent living to a schedule, the summer shutdown is a chance to do the opposite. Usually, there will be a destination in mind – possibly several – and a rough mental itinerary of things that would be nice to do.

The summer break is a chance to interrupt the regularly scheduled programming for something unplanned, off-the-cuff, and unexpected. That is a large part of the shutting-off process.

This time last year, Lando was planning a road trip in Europe with friends, whereas this year, his summer is looking a little more lowkey – for now, anyway.

“I’ll be spending my summer break with my family and friends,” says Lando. “I’ll spend a little bit of it abroad and a little bit at home, playing some golf, things like that.

“It is very important for me and for everyone in the team to take this time off. The schedule is very busy, so it is important to have a few weeks away with friends and family so you can take your mind off Formula 1. Then, you can come back even more focused for the second half of the year.”

As Lando says, the intensity of the Formula 1 season means that shutting off is vital for the whole team, which is why a mandatory 14-day shutdown is physically written into the sporting regulations.

The week immediately after Belgium will have been used to tie up any loose ends at the factory, before the entire grid put on their out of office notifications. It allows everyone to truly relax without fear that their competitors are still working or gaining an advantage.

During this time, work is restricted to basic functions and services. Few departments are permitted to run, with design, development and production all brought to a complete standstill - simulators are shut down, and meetings are strictly prohibited. The value of this period to teams and staff, as well as drivers, cannot be overstated.

“This period is very important,” Oscar asserts. “I think that it can be quite tiring at times, so I think that it is important to reset and switch off a bit. During the season, you only get two or three days to do that, so having two weeks where you can switch off and relax and re-energise is really important for everybody.”

Lando nods in agreement, adding with a smile: "Wake up, stay in bed, get up when you want and go for a lovely lunch somewhere. Have no ties and do what feels right."

Given the length of the summer break, the drivers would never put themselves in harm's way or let themselves go, but they won't be following their regular training programme: their strict diets will relax to an extent and the training they do will differ.

During the busiest parts of the F1 season, exercise becomes a case of fitting in what you can, when you can, whereas, the summer break allows them time to enjoy exercises they’d normally not have the time for, such as cycling or hiking.

“Sleeping is priority number one for the summer break,” Oscar says. “That and getting back into a more regular training routine, which can be difficult with so many races going on. We are always busy, so this is a good opportunity to get a good training routine back in place and get a good block of training in before we go back racing again.

“Me and my trainer, Kim, will both be in the UK for a decent amount of the summer break, so I am sure that we will probably do quite a lot of training together. That way, I can come back strongly in the second half of the season.

“The second half of the season is very busy with a few triple headers in there, so it is always important to make sure that you can top up your fitness and training whenever you can. And of course, spending time with friends and family.”

Lando adds: “You need to keep your training up, but it is healthy to shut your mind off for a little while. I’ll do some running and cycling, as well as a few gym sessions. You naturally continue with that side of things - you don’t take a break from training, you just take a rest from Formula 1.”

Switching on and off at such speed is an elite skill that will help to define a busy end to the season, with 10 rounds to go and all to race for in the Constructor’s Standings.

We enter the summer break in fourth place, hungry to add to our recent haul of trophies and points, 46 points ahead of Alpine and 88 behind Ferrari.