Insight into design of the helmets of the McLaren drivers

The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 Team provides an exclusive insight into the design of the helmets of their 2007 drivers, outlining how the graphics are as individual as the four men themselves.

Fernando Alonso

My move to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is obviously a big change for me, so I thought it was a good time to change my helmet graphics. Although the design is new to Formula 1, it isn’t really new because it’s basically the same colour scheme I used when I started racing 20 years ago. My first helmet was bought for me as a surprise by my parents, so I had no choice over the colour. It came in red, white and black, and those were the colours that I wore throughout my early racing career. This year, I decided that I should go back to that original design. I wanted to try and capture the colour and design of my old helmet, but with some modern graphics. I’ve had the lightning bolt arrows on the top of each of my helmets for about 15 years now. I’ve had a lot of success in that time, so they won’t change. They have to be exactly the same colour and shape.

Lewis Hamilton

Like Fernando’s helmet, my design dates right back to the start of my career. My Dad used to get nervous when I was competing in junior kart races with 20 kids all going for the same corner at the same time. Everyone used to wear the same colour helmets, so he couldn’t see where I was on the track. He wanted me to wear something more distinctive, so we took a look at a colour chart and I chose yellow, red, blue and green, all with a metallic finish. It was my dad’s idea to have the colours going around the helmet like a ribbon. We couldn’t afford to have someone paint it, so he did it himself. The yellow is reminiscent of Ayrton Senna’s helmet. This wasn’t really intentional, but he’s always been a hero of mine so that’s okay. As this is my debut season, I’m making a few changes. The original metallic cherry red is giving way to the team’s rocket red, which goes really well with the car. We’ve also made a slight change to fit in the Johnnie Walker logo, but it’s still very much my design, based on what I like.

Pedro de la Rosa

My helmet used to carry a Spanish flag, but I decided to remove it in 1995 because of the delicate situation between Catalonia and Spain. My wife and I sat down together to work on a new design. It’s actually still very similar to the original because it uses the same colours, but it doesn’t have the same political meaning. I like to think that people still see the yellow and red and recognise that they’re from the Spanish flag and that I’m proud of my country. The other colours are much more simple – the dark blue is there because it’s one of my favourite colours, while the black is there because it goes well with the other colours. I’ve tried to keep some similarity between my helmets because I really like the way that it looks, and because the colours and the design help the fans recognise me. That is something that’s very, very important to me.

Gary Paffett

The main thing about a helmet is that it’s your identity on the track. It’s important that people can easily recognise me from a distance, but at the same time I like my helmet to also have some interesting design elements when you see it up close. I’m very happy with the latest version because it’s distinctive and modern. Like many people, I started out with a plain white helmet and decided to add colours and design as I got older. The first design had a blue section at the bottom and a red stripe through the middle separated by white. That design has evolved over the years, but I’ve always kept those colours – they’re patriotic but also work really well together. Apart from changing the red at the front recently, I just make sure it’s got a modern look. Helmet graphics go through trends but I’ve no plans to change mine any time soon. You get to the point where your helmet is you.