Makes sense. So much of the work around CERN already happens independent of whether the collider is running or not, so skipping a rough season seems like the sensible thing to do (even from a purely inward facing cost/benefit standpoint).

It's a shame that the timing just had to coincide with the start of LHC Run 3, though. They only managed to generate around 5-6 months of data after 3 years of upgrades. I imagine that should still be enough to keep the scientists busy this Winter, though.