Fernando Alonso’s new helmet for 2010

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Fernando Alonso in Ferrari's ice kart race (click to enlarge)

Fernando Alonso sported what looks like an updated helmet design for 2010 at Ferrari’s media event today.

The design features his usual blue and yellow – a nod to his home city Oviedo – mixed with Ferrari red and, of course, the team’s sponsors’ logos.

Here’s another angle on the design (taken while he gets a big hug from Fisichella):

Fernando Alonso gets a hug from Giancarlo Fisichella (click to enlarge)

I’m a bit old-fashioned – I like to see drivers sticking with the same design no matter who they drive for. But it seems almost every driver these days bring out a new design when they change teams and some seem to switch styles almost every race – like Sebastian Vettel last year.

Alonso’s new helmet didn’t bring him any luck, though: he crashed out of the race one lap from the end. More on that here: Massa second in Ferrari ice kart race as Alonso crashes

What do you think of Alonso’s new design? Here’s his 2009 skid lid for comparison:

Fernando Alonso's 2009 helmet design (Click to enlarge)

Read more: Massa second in Ferrari ice kart race as Alonso crashes (Pictures and video)

Images (C) Ferrari spa, Ferrari spa, Renault/LAT

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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39 comments on “Fernando Alonso’s new helmet for 2010”

  1. It’s better than last year helmet

  2. I wrote this in the forum:

    I bet that was very trick to combine those colors in a unique peace.

    Interesting is that Fernando preserved his own visual identity on his new helmet design — even with that dominant Ferrari´s red around him. In McLaren he let the identity of the team influence his helmet design and that change was really radical.

    Just a guess, but maybe this shows where his heart still lives…

  3. Generally, I’m not a fan of drivers changing their helmet designs either. In Alonso’s case, there was nothing wrong with the design used when he first entered Formula One – it was much better than recent efforts. That said, I prefer the 2010 edition to last year’s, as it combines the colours of Asturias and Spain nicely.

    I suppose helmet designs aren’t particularly relevant now anyway, given the high cockpit sides.

    1. What does it matter? is it your helmet?

  4. It’s pretty much like his 2008 season helmet but I don’t think it’ll look good in that Ferrari. The last year’s design would be a far better choice.

  5. Just as long as he hasn’t got those lame ass Aces on the back like last year!!

    1. It does in fact. Check the forum.

    2. Prisoner Monkeys
      16th January 2010, 0:39

      The Aces represent each of his chapionships, apparently.

  6. Prisoner Monkeys
    16th January 2010, 0:36

    I like it. I like it because it’s not Ferrari-centric; while I liked the way Jenson Button updated his helmet to Brawn colours for 2009, I think it’s be retty boring if eveyone did that. But I like Alonso’s because it has an identity of its own; it’s not a 2009 helmet updated to new colours the way Fisichella’s was when he switched to Maranello

  7. I agree that drivers should keep the same helmets. I love helmets that stand out from the car like Hamilton and Massa. Changing the helmet to match the car like Button/Kimi/Alonso is boring in my opinion.

    This is a bit hypocritical but I like Seb changing his, the basic design stays the same but as the Red Bull design is quite boring it’s cool he has a different pattern on the top and the bottom each race.

    1. if you actually look, Alfonso has changed it so it is more different from the car. Last year’s was much more red based, this year’s much more blue based.

  8. I like it much better than last years. The blue and yellow representing his home town miked with the red in a way that represents his national flag looks really great.

    On a side note, I think Fisichella helemet looks awesome.

  9. I like it.. It will really stand out in the Ferrari redness.. It reminds me of his Championship winning years

    1. yer my thoughts too.
      No doubt when watching who’s who in team red.

      Nice and simple design, really

  10. Nothing we can do about the helmet design.The teams & sponsors wants their name & colour to appear on the helmet.

  11. I like it. I always think of yellow & blue as Alonso’s ‘colours’.

  12. This looks so much like a return to his 2006 helmet, which is similar to 2008 but that year’s colors were lighter. I love it. Are the two aces still on the back of his crown?

  13. I think drivers change their helmets too much, but this is an improvement for me.

  14. I usually liked the helmets that go with the color of the car. But, sometimes I do like the helmets that stand out to speak the driver’s identity and this looks like one. I like this color scheme, I will wait to see how it is gonna look when he drives his car.

  15. The helmet is very ugly and generic

  16. I love helmet designs, I think they should all be personal to a driver so fans can identify them and it has that sentiment. Look at Senna and his famous yellow helmet. Noone cares about sponsors on helmets, they’re dull and tiny anyway so should just go. Sponsors are taking over everything so hurray to the likes of Massa and Hamilton who have a unique design and stick with it every year.
    As for Alonso I preferred his 09 one and but part of me is glad in a way as it won’t just match the car now. Glad it is back to his home colours too (so it is kind of like he’s going back to his own colours) and not just a totally new colour scheme and design. Not a work of art but it doesn’t need to be. It should be easy to tell him and Felipe apart too.

    1. Hamilton, a unique design? come on..

  17. Good job, I like that it will contrast with the Ferrari. It’s often difficult to tell team mates apart these days as it seems the fashion to blend with the car’s body work. I think a driver’s personality should be represented by his lid, not the team he drives for.

    Think of the great helmet designs of the past – you could always tell who was who. Now the only helmet liveries I can think of that I recognise instantly in the car is Massa (although the yellow stripes are sadly toned down now) and Kubica.

  18. “The design features his usual blue and yellow – a nod to his home city Oviedo – mixed with Ferrari red and, of course, the team’s sponsors’ logos.”

    Like others have said it’s a return to his traditional blue on top and bottom with a spainish flag around the sides. It does look very similar to the ’06 helmet as well which is great.

  19. Maybe his return to his championship winning helmet livery is a sign of intent about his plans with Ferrari.

  20. I make this the fourth consecutive year in which Alonso has changed his helmet design…

    1. Like I said, it’s not much different than 2008 or 2006, which was based on his helmets previous to that point. 2007 and 2009 were his only real departures. Alonso is no Heidfeld or Kimi, who changed helmets every season, usually drastically.

      But I know that because a driver doesn’t act like Damon Hill, he’s a ******* around here.

  21. I like it better then 2009 version but it is nothing special.

  22. Although I quite like a driver changing his helmet design for a one off special event every now and then, I too like to see drivers keep the same basic design throughout their career.

  23. Actually, to me the 2009 helmet looks more Ferrariesque than the new one.

  24. Don’t know what the big deal is when people disagree with Pilots changing *their own helmet* design. They all look good these days lets get to racing now.

    1. I think some people, me included, may prefer a driver to stick with the same helmet design because that is what has traditionally been done. I remember Brundle saying during commentary saying that he wasn’t a fan of drivers changing their helmet design all the time and saying when he was racing drivers kept the same design for their whole career.

      I suppose you could argue it would be similar to Ferrari acting like all the other teams and dropping their traditional Red based livery to suit their sponsors.

      1. And other traditions have changed which make me prefer that drivers keep their helmet designs stable.

        It used to be the case that it was fairly easy to distinguish between cars on a team because the numbers and sometimes the drivers names on the cars were actually visible, even at a distance and at speed.

        These days, that’s no longer true at all, and the only clues are the helmet and the color of the on-board video camera, which is small and often not visible in TV shots.

      2. traditionally. well that doesn’t mean every pilot is going to keep the same helmet because back in the day the helmets were usually one design for a whole career. This is a new age of formula 1 and a lot of these pilots seem like they want to look good while racing. creativity on a helmet is one way of looking good since we see them the most.

        Well I suppose there isn’t really another team or manufacturer that is soley based on a red paint. There is no bigger team or color than ferrari, great example. But I do remember a good stretch of atleast 7 years when ferrari put white on there traditional red livery so there sponsors could be seen. I believe 2010 they are gonna put a lot of white on the nose and rear wing so santander can be seen. looks a bit like toyota :\

  25. In fact, blue and yellow are the colours of Asturias, the spanish region where Oviedo is found. By the way, you can spot the asturian flag in almost every F1 circuit where Alonso is running: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asturias
    Alonso’s identification with the colours is logical, those where also the colours of the Renault F1 team that made him double champion. When he signed for McLaren, he stated that he wanted his followers to keep the colours. It seems logical that he keeps the tradition with Ferrari.

  26. bad looking helmet…

    massa has the most cool helmet in f1….

  27. It seems Fernando has returned to a style more simular to that worn during his title winning years with Renault. Personally, I like it when drivers incorporate their national colours on their helmets. Felipe Massa’s helmet design is nice, as was Kubica’s last year. My least favourite was Kovalainen’s, but as someone else just mentioned on this blog, they are wearing the damn things not us.

  28. i like the new design more for sure… it will contrast nicely with the ferrari … but i do like the olden days when drivers usually kept the helmet designs same for their entire career , it holds a certain charm

  29. I like this helmet, I expected more red but this is a much better choice. The red is allready there on his F10 and his suit so the blue-yellow Asturias and the Spanish flag maintains.

    It is not like his McLaren helmet, when he changed it dramatically.

    Look at this image, It’s awesome!!

    [img]http://94.100.121.217/846050001-846100000/846050801-846050900/846050883_5_HfNq.jpeg[/img]

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