255 replies to this topic

[santori]

Praise? Criticism?

For me, too many modern F1 helmets range between boring and hideous (although better than their counterparts in motorcycling) but there are a few worth a second look eg. the simple, striking crosses of Massa and DC, Jenson's stylised JB, Piquet's orange and white version of his dad's helmet (for me a great improvement over the silver version he wore in lower formulae), Fisi's light and clean yellow and green on white. I like Alonso's for the pale blue, too, although I'd like to tidy up the design, and Bourdais' is attractive and tasteful.
The worst? Well, Vettel's advert probably edges out the various, barely recognizable, awkward splashes and lines sported by about half the grid.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Bourdais helmet is nothing and I couldn't re-draw Massa's helmet if I had to. I know its a combo of neon greens and yellows, but I have no idea what the design is.

None of them stand out or have any real design or significance to them.

Piquet's helmet would be fine if he didn't have to sponsor it up.

[Eliteboy99]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
Bourdais helmet is nothing and I couldn't re-draw Massa's helmet if I had to. I know its a combo of neon greens and yellows, but I have no idea what the design is.

None of them stand out or have any real design or significance to them.

Piquet's helmet would be fine if he didn't have to sponsor it up.

Not that I disagree, but what would your choices be, or even what does your lid look like? you used to race didn't you?

Personally, I like to see Kimi's updates. They are not always attractive, but at least some thought goes into them.

The drivers that have had the same style since they were a kid are the best ones. My fave is Hamilton's. Not because I am a fanboy, as I am certainly not that, but because it stands out.

[Atreiu]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
(...)Piquet's helmet would be fine if he didn't have to sponsor it up.

Yeah.

[thuGG]

I really like Kubica's helmet, also Kimi's.

This one is especially cool, Robert was wearing it at Brazil GP 2007:

[Ross Stonefeld]

But to me that's just a collection of lines and some textures. I don't know what it's meant to look like.


I enjoyed Davidson's helmet because it was a non-standard layout and he always raced/tested for teams that didn't put a lot of stickers on their driver helmets.


Eliteboy I never bothered to paint my helmet because I only had one and it was pretty ratty. I wasn't going to do anything more complicated than American racing blue and twin white stripes running front to back. No chrome, no textures, just two solid colors.

I reckon it'd work in modern F1 with high cockpit sides and long camera shots favoring head-on angles.

[potmotr]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
Bourdais helmet is nothing and I couldn't re-draw Massa's helmet if I had to. I know its a combo of neon greens and yellows, but I have no idea what the design is.

None of them stand out or have any real design or significance to them.

I disagree. I think Massa's is quite distinctive with the twin yellow stripes moving across the top and meeting on the chinbar.

The thing I like the most about Bourdais is that he hasn't folded to his paymaster and given up the helmet design he's been using for years.

I think Red Bull take away part of their drivers individuality by making them wear the Red Bull helmet design.

Of the current bunch I think JB's helmet is a great design. Hamilton's is very distinctive too. Mansell had a design which was really identifiable.

Call me old fashioned but I think a driver should stick with their design for life. It's part of them.

[potmotr]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
I enjoyed Davidson's helmet because it was a non-standard layout and he always raced/tested for teams that didn't put a lot of stickers on their driver helmets.

I agree, Davidson has a really cool design which is quite unique. He'd run into problems at teams like Ferrari which have that 'sponsor halo' around the top.

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld

I reckon it'd work in modern F1 with high cockpit sides and long camera shots favoring head-on angles.

That's true. I thought Monterio had a lovely design with those twin stripes.

Also, the Andrettis have a great design with the red stripe down the top (in Marco's case blue) and the American flag on the chin bar. Simple, visible and effective.

[H0R]

I still like Barrichello's helmet. It is a classic and distinctive design, not a mess like most modern drivers' lids. I think they should basically stick to a chosen design. Radical changes like Irvine from his classic red and green design to the Jaguar design is usually the worst idea. Similarly bad: Kimi Raikkonen. Does he have a basic idea for his helmet's design at all?

[BunnyK]

Originally posted by potmotr
Call me old fashioned but I think a driver should stick with their design for life. It's part of them.

Me too, That's something I like about Lewis, although he hasn't been too long in F1 look like he's gonna keep the design.

Of all liveries I think I like most Raikkonnen's, Heidfeld also has a cool one in white, the one I really hate is Sutil's, with all the stickers and the design

[NineOneSeven]

I like Senna design, but thats iconic.
I like the Hill family Henley rowing club design.

Some current designs not in order:

Nakajima; Simple and effective
DC: loved it when I first saw it.
Davidson; Very cool
Trulli: I love the JT design its original
Piquet; Iconic
Rosberg: Crap
LH: Senna inspired so I find it cool
Rubens: Original if uninteresting
Wurz: Sh*t

I love the colours that drives run on the helmets. I am always designing my own colours for myself and the family to run at events.

[potmotr]

Originally posted by thuGG
I really like Kubica's helmet, also Kimi's.

This one is especially cool, Robert was wearing it at Brazil GP 2007:

That does look good. I like how Heidfeld, Kubica and Raikkonen use matt blacks. They look very cool.

[kismet]

I've never understood why people take protective headgear so seriously - or rather, personally. I've worn my share of different helmets in my time and it's never occurred to me that they are any more a part of me or an extension of my personality than, say, any random piece of clothing I might be wearing. Functionality is enough, I'm not trying to make a statement with my choice of mandated headgear. And the idea that I should stick to the same basic design for life is... well, let's say 'interesting'.

So, my position on helmets would be this: they're great when you dive head first into something hard but I don't really care what they look like.

[Lazy Prodigy]

Raikkonens helmet this year looks cool. It would look better if it said Marlboro instead of those stupid barcodes. I always liked his viking logo thing on his helmet. But that Kubica helmet is sleek and cool.

[potmotr]

There's a Finnish guy who runs a company called UD Designs I think. He looks after Raikkonen's lids and also Kovalainen.

He painted a Lewis Hamilton helmet in testing early last year. It looked great. A much lighter shade of almost lemon yellow, and a quite funky interpretation of his red green and blue flashes down the side.

You can see it here, left hand column, third from the bottom.
http://www.autosport...ndex.php/id/755

[Smudger]

The Hill family design is London Rowing Club.
Graham was a member, and entitled to use the design, Damon asked, and was granted, permission to carry it on. IIRC Graham's was a darker blue.

I liked Jackie Stewart's, then used by Paul. Classy and understated, not as gaudy as possible...

[potmotr]

Originally posted by Smudger

I liked Jackie Stewart's, then used by Paul. Classy and understated, not as gaudy as possible...

Allan McNish adopted a similar theme which looks great. A kind of pearl white with the family colours around the top.

[santori]

Originally posted by potmotr


Allan McNish adopted a similar theme which looks great. A kind of pearl white with the family colours around the top.

The helmets of McNish and Heinz-Harald Frentzen are probably my favourite recent ones.

[postajegenye]

I quite like Timo Glock's helmet.

[ensign14]

They all suck. They are over-complicated for the sake of over-complication. Look at the black and white Kubica one for example. If it were solid colours then yes, it would be an excellent design, distinctive yet simple; but what's the point of the red pinstripe and all those grey smudges all over? And the Glock one. Why does the German flag need to look as if it's been torn from a scrapbook? What's the point of the wavy line and pattern at the bottom? From a distance they muddle the design, close-up they just look farty.

Best designs are the easy ones with an individual twist to them. Not necessarily big name drivers. Jo Vonlanthen. David Purley. Roger Williamson . Elio de Angelis . Jean-Pierre Beltoise. Slim Borgudd. Just plain blocks of colour with distinctive shapes and/or designs. No need to be poncey about the whole thing.

And in this day and age with identification more difficult because the sides of the helmet are hidden, so many have the sort of Schumacher blue-top design...Barrichello, Button, Heidfeld (till recently), Fisichella, Webber (who probably has the best, but he should go back to yellow on top, although Piquet's works better in Renault colours than that garish chrome)...jeez.

[y2cragie]

I always liked michael schumachers helmet. The occasional special editions were always good, and the gold stars for championships and list of wins added in the last couple of years I thought gave it a sense of schumi-esque bravado.
Kimi's newest helmet though I have mistaken a couple of times, for schumi's testing helmet, with the ferrari red split by the white band.

Do any of the drivers still use the heat activated paint helmets like Heidfeld did last season?

[BT44/45]

Best designs are the easy ones with an individual twist to them. Not necessarily big name drivers. Jo Vonlanthen. David Purley. Roger Williamson . Elio de Angelis . Jean-Pierre Beltoise. Slim Borgudd. Just plain blocks of colour with distinctive shapes and/or designs. No need to be poncey about the whole thing.

couldn't agree more. simple is best: jacky ickx, david coulthard, tom pryce, jody scheckter, ayrton senna,...
best recognizable? henri pescarolo. not a fancy design, just a fancy colour.

[fum3s]

All I ask is that I (and the commentators) can tell the difference between team-mates when I'm watching a race.

Funny how I've never seen that both Kubica and Glock have Dell and Credit Suisse on their helmets on the race coverage.
They don't wear their helmets at the press conference (nice to have seen both of them there this year!) -so what's the point? Same goes for all the "artwork" - you only see it if you're a helmet fetishist and download pictures of helmets.

[HoldenRT]

They all pale in comparison to Rossi's.

[ensign14]

Rossi's, like almost all bikers' designs, are even worse than the F1 guys. Impossible to work out what the design actually is most of the time.

Mike Hailwood, Marco Lucchinelli, Giacomo Agostini, Randy Mamola...much better. It's a lost art.

And that Finnish painter needs his brushes broken. How to wreck simple designs in one easy method.

[Blythy]

Hills was pretty iconic, always liked that one. I've never liked any that are predominantly white, looks like no ones really tried. Massa's is cool, looks canny vicious from the front, Not so keen on Buttons, always thought it was a bit... wrong. I'd have a design based around a snarling big black cat.

[Mika Mika]

I think Damon and Graham Hill's design was the best!

Damon's eyes in that helmet just looked evil!

[Mika Mika]

The Stig is the best though ;-)

[santori]

Originally posted by BT44/45

henri pescarolo. not a fancy design, just a fancy colour.

Rene Arnoux! I wouldn't want a whole field like that (although I suppose there was) but as one of a variety it worked very well. Ronnie Petersen and Michele Alboreto. Francois Cevert. Martin Brundle (especially the wavy version).

Some images of helmets from the last couple of years (including a thermochromic helmet one for Rubens from 2007. I don't think anyone's used one this year).

I like helmet design. If you make it all the way to F1 you might as well put a little thought into it.

[Slowinfastout]

Always liked François Cervert's helmet design the most.

[4MEN]

Originally posted by H0R
I still like Barrichello's helmet. It is a classic and distinctive design, not a mess like most modern drivers' lids. I think they should basically stick to a chosen design. Radical changes like Irvine from his classic red and green design to the Jaguar design is usually the worst idea. Similarly bad: Kimi Raikkonen. Does he have a basic idea for his helmet's design at all?

I think it's one of the most stupid designs.

[4MEN]

Originally posted by Mika Mika
I think Damon and Graham Hill's design was the best!

Damon's eyes in that helmet just looked evil!

On the actual grid, i like Button's design. Coulthard and Davidson are great too (and I'm not english!)
On motorbikes I like Simoncelli's and last year's Pedrosa.

Some pics
http://www.f1wolf.co...rs-helmets.html

[4MEN]

Originally posted by BunnyK


Me too, That's something I like about Lewis, although he hasn't been too long in F1 look like he's gonna keep the design.

Of all liveries I think I like most Raikkonnen's, Heidfeld also has a cool one in white, the one I really hate is Sutil's, with all the stickers and the design

That design looks gay ;)

[mach1na]

I really love Kimi's + Heikki's helmets -done by the same Finnish guy. The contrast of the white touches and day-glow pinks/reds against the Matte Black looks awesome.

Massa's helmet design looks good too the sweeping yellow coming down to the chin bar, I think mostly the color combination is what strikes me.

Alonso's helmet works well, not too busy, as far as symbology is concerned I think its the best. His 2006 Renault helmet was the best though.


Heidfeld's White/Gold helmet for German GP looked very slick too.

[F1Johnny]

Originally posted by potmotr


I agree, Davidson has a really cool design which is quite unique.

Not that unique. Very close to Eddie Cheever's helmet.

http://i72.photobuck...chevsmhelml.jpg

http://www.f1wolf.co...ny-davidson.jpg

I always liked Piquet's helmet, but Jr's is a bit too busy to emulate his Dad's

Of the current crop I liked Alonso's McLaren helmet, Kubica's red version as well as Lewis'.

[se7en_24]

I always used to like Johnny Herbert's, it stood out well.

[pingu666]

without HDTV we cant see the detail...

i liked johnny rea's old helmet

[molive]

Here's mine.

[molive]

The one and only...

[molive]

Emmo1s helmet was one of my faves too.

[molive]

Nelsinho's is a quite nice rendition of his old man´s tear-drop design.

[HoldenRT]

Originally posted by ensign14
Rossi's, like almost all bikers' designs, are even worse than the F1 guys. Impossible to work out what the design actually is most of the time.

I can't believe you took me seriously. Look at the pics he has his face plasted on the top of his own helmet while he is making a stupid clown expression. How much more vain can you get.

They are just helmets. I can't talk seriously about them like you guys are, as if they are the latest from Versace's fall collection. They all look a blur at speed anyway. Unlike your latest Victoria Secret Miranda Kerr collection. Now that's something worth obsessing about.

[whitewaterMkII]

I've always been partial to Troy Lee designs.
Troy lee galleries
He's done, amongst many others, Greg Moores, Paul Tracys, Juan Montoyas, Max Papis' and I believe he's done some Formula 1 drivers as well.
I just got done cruising his site. I had no idea but it seems he does most of the NASCAR over the wall crews helmets as well with team/sponsor themes.


Franchitti's by Troy Lee

[NineOneSeven]

I like Rossi's Sun and Moon theamed helmets. They are fantastic.

I really like

I don't know why Jaques never used it. It was better than his garish design. He wore it once at the Festival of speed I believe.

[potmotr]

Originally posted by F1Johnny


Not that unique. Very close to Eddie Cheever's helmet.

Actually, you're right. I had noticed that once. Was there any connection between the two to your knowledge?

I know Jean Alesi took his design from his hero Elio De Angelis.

Equally, Michele Alboreto modeled his lid on his favorite driver when growing up, Ronnie Peterson.

I have a few of those Minichamps half-scale helmets at home. They're a little pricey but look awesome and the detailing is fantastic. I have a Ralf Schumacher from 1999 and Felipe Massa from 1992. One sits on top of the telly, the other beside the bed... I don't think Minichamps makes the half scale anymore.

[ensign14]

Originally posted by potmotr


Actually, you're right. I had noticed that once. Was there any connection between the two to your knowledge?

Yes, Davidson always liked it so copied it. Laurent Redon did something similar as well.

[glorius&victorius]

Originally posted by Lazy Prodigy
Raikkonens helmet this year looks cool. It would look better if it said Marlboro instead of those stupid barcodes. I always liked his viking logo thing on his helmet. But that Kubica helmet is sleek and cool.

can you explain that...what is the viking logo? thanks

[glorius&victorius]

Originally posted by NineOneSeven
I like Rossi's Sun and Moon theamed helmets. They are fantastic.

I really like

I don't know why Jaques never used it. It was better than his garish design. He wore it once at the Festival of speed I believe.

JV rainbow colors is the gay version

[Enkei]

Originally posted by glorius&victorius


can you explain that...what is the viking logo? thanks

The horns on top of the helmet.
http://www.f1wolf.co...helmet-2008.jpg

[glorius&victorius]

Originally posted by molive
Emmo1s helmet was one of my faves too.

mine too! notice he has Senna's helmet on it too.