2012 F1 driver helmets in pictures

F1 pictures

March 12, 2012 at 12:52 pm by
115 comments

The class of 2012 have revealed their helmet designs for the year ahead.

Here are pictures of the helmet designs being used by the F1 drivers of 2012:

Sebastian Vettel

If you like Sebastian Vettel’s latest helmet design it’s probably best not to get too attached to it. He changes them as often as he changes his socks.

Mark Webber

Like several of the other drivers, Mark Webber’s helmet design is little-changed from the one he used last year.

Jenson Button

Lewis Hamilton

Fernando Alonso

Felipe Massa

Michael Schumacher

Nico Rosberg

Rosberg has eased back on the grey in favour of a more striking yellow design for his 2012 crash helmet.

Kimi Raikkonen

A striking black-and-white design for F1 returnee Kimi Raikkonen.

Romain Grosjean

Another new face on the grid is Romain Grosjean, who sports a helmet design that complements Lotus’s black and gold.

Paul di Resta

Di Resta has removed the Italian flag tricolour from the helmet design he used at the start of last season.

Nico Hulkenberg

Kamui Kobayashi

Sergio Perez

Perez has swapped orange and green for yellow and white in his 2012 lid, with a prominent Mexican flag on the top.

Daniel Ricciardo

Jean-Eric Vergne

Pastor Maldonado

Maldonado has swapped the white portions of his 2011 helmet for sparkling silver.

Bruno Senna

The Satander logos are a late addition to Senna’s helmet, which of course is modelled on that of his uncle Ayrton Senna.

Heikki Kovalainen

Vitaly Petrov

Narain Karthikeyan

Pedro de la Rosa

Timo Glock

A more colourful design for Glock in 2012, trading black for blue in places.

Charles Pic

Reserve drivers

Here are the helmet designs being used by some of the reserve drivers this year:

The pictures above will take you into the main gallery, where you can see more angles of many of the helmets.

Here are last year’s helmet designs for comparison.

Which is your favourite of the 2012 drivers’ helmet designs? Have your say in the comments.

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Images © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Lotus F1 Team/LAT, Williams/LAT, McLaren/Hoch Zwei, Mercedes, Daimler/Hoch Zwei, Getty Images/Red Bull, Force India/Sutton, Sauber F1 Team, Caterham/LAT, Marussia, HRT

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115 comments on 2012 F1 driver helmets in pictures

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  1. Avatar Image

    damonsmedley (@damonsmedley) said on 12th March 2012, 12:57

    Massa and Kobayashi have the coolest helmets in my opinion.

    I love what Webber’s done to the blue of his helmet! Looks much more interesting. I also love Sebastian Vettel’s ‘fingerprint-style’ pattern on the top of his helmet, but I don’t think that shade of blue goes well with the rest of the helmet.

    My least favourites are Perez’s and Raikkonen’s. Why did Sergio change his design? It looked quite distinctive last year, now it looks kind of sickly…

    Reply

    • Frederic said on 16th March 2012, 14:03

      Has anyone come accross Kovalainen’s “Angry Birds” helmet? I think its the coolest. Am not sure whether he will run with it though.

      Reply
  2. Avatar Image

    TommyB (@tommyb89) said on 12th March 2012, 12:57

    That Dani Clos helmet is certainly different.

    For the third year in a row it’s Alonso with the best helmet again.

    Reply
    • Avatar Image

      PT (@pt) said on 12th March 2012, 18:57

      True, of the race drivers Alonso has the best livery for me though I also like Narain Karthikeyan’s livery, particulalry the wheel of the Indian flag on top.

      Overall, I like Esteban Gutierrez’s helmet the most.

      Reply
    • Avatar Image

      JCost (@jcost) said on 12th March 2012, 20:09

      1. Alonso
      2. Button
      3. Heiki
      4. Lewis
      5. Kamui

      Reply

      • q85 said on 12th March 2012, 21:34

        i loved fernando’s one he used in 08.

        i wish michael would go back to the pre 2000 colours. would suit the mercedes much better than the red.

        Reply
        • Avatar Image

          Sien (@sien) said on 13th March 2012, 0:19

          Yep, Schumi should either switch back to one of his old designs (like this one ) or even use the awesome golden one from Spa last year. In conjunction with his silver arrow it looked killer!

          (Despite it was sometimes hard to distinguish between Michael’s golden helmet and Nico’s yellow one.)

          IMHO the Iceman’s helmet looks the best. Followed by the classic designs of Alonso and Hamilton. I like the unconventional approach regarding color and motif of Dani Clos’ helmet, too.

          Reply
  3. Avatar Image

    Nickrbtson (@pwaa) said on 12th March 2012, 12:58

    I’m not entirely sure what the point in having Vettel’s helmet there is, since he’ll have 51 others before the season finishes! Other than that, they’re looking good. Especially Kobayashi and Grosjean IMO

    Reply
    • Avatar Image

      dennis (@dennis) said on 12th March 2012, 15:09

      lol
      Vettel’s helmet should come with a disclaimer… “Subject to change.”

      Reply
    • Avatar Image

      PT (@pt) said on 12th March 2012, 18:34

      It’s not just the fact that he keeps changing the design, but why can’t he keep it simple. Maybe that’s what you should expect from a youngster who has grown on video games.

      What a far cry from the days of Senna, Piquet, Prost, Patrese, Mansell et al! They had distinctive designs that were simple but stood the test of time. But now I think these young drivers have their minds crammed with so much stuff that they want to let it all out on their helmet. Vettel is the biggest culprit here.

      Reply
  4. Avatar Image

    Fer no.65 (@fer-no65) said on 12th March 2012, 12:59

    Kovalainen’s, Webber’s, Kobayashi’s, and a bit behind Kimi’s, are the coolest for me! Some are quite hideous tho :P!

    Reply
  5. Avatar Image

    alilane4 (@alilane4) said on 12th March 2012, 12:59

    What are the odds of Vettel’s design not lasting past Practice 1?

    Reply
    • Avatar Image

      TommyB (@tommyb89) said on 12th March 2012, 13:03

      He uses a helmet and then ‘retires’ it once he wins with it.

      Reply
      • Avatar Image

        Enigma (@enigma) said on 12th March 2012, 13:31

        @TommyB89 Really? Has he been doing that since he entered F1?

        Reply
        • Avatar Image

          TommyB (@tommyb89) said on 12th March 2012, 15:01

          Yep. For example in 2009 he had a helmet for Singapore but didn’t win. He used it again in Abu Dhabi and won with it, therefore it won’t get used again.

          Reply
          • Avatar Image

            Enigma (@enigma) said on 12th March 2012, 15:20

            Interesting, never heard of that before. I prefer it when drivers keep the same helmet design for the whole career, but that’s actually a nice and fun thing he’s doing. I just hope, for the sake of the championship, he doesn’t use too many different ones this year!

          • Avatar Image

            Enigma (@enigma) said on 12th March 2012, 15:51

            @TommyB89 Actually, wouldn’t that mean his helmet would be the same for the third race in a row, as he hasn’t won since India?

          • Avatar Image

            US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 12th March 2012, 21:32

            @enigma he’s never said he won’t change it anyhow if he doesn’t win a race, only that if he does win a race he definitely won’t use that design again. So he could very well change it between every session this year!

          • Avatar Image

            Enigma (@enigma) said on 12th March 2012, 21:39

            @us_peter Thanks for clearing that up! A shame, it would be nice if it was a clear system of having one design between each race win.

        • bearforce1 said on 13th March 2012, 7:54

          Yeah he also has race overalls for each race. I heard it is a commercial decision. At the end of his career he will be able to sell many many one of helmets each with its own special significance.

          Reply

      • David said on 13th March 2012, 19:27

        Lets hope he keeps the same helmet all season !

        Reply
  6. Avatar Image

    McLarenFanJamm (@mclarenfanjamm) said on 12th March 2012, 13:00

    I actually like Vettel’s helmet for this season (although I’m sure he’ll only use that design for about 3 races :-P)

    I also really like Charles Pic and Heikki Kovaleinen’s helmets, those two are probably my favourites.

    Reply
  7. Avatar Image

    Enigma (@enigma) said on 12th March 2012, 13:00

    I miss D’Ambrosio’s helmet, best one of 2011. Raikkonen, Kovalainen and Rosberg have my favourite ones this year.

    Reply

  8. Kjuna said on 12th March 2012, 13:02

    Kovalainen FTW!

    Reply
  9. Avatar Image

    Enigma (@enigma) said on 12th March 2012, 13:04

    Wow, Pic’s helmet has the Eiffel tower on it!

    Reply
  10. Avatar Image

    necrodethmortem (@necrodethmortem) said on 12th March 2012, 13:08

    Grosjean, Clos and Vettel, in that order, are the best looking imo.

    Reply

  11. Daniel Shires said on 12th March 2012, 13:08

    Thumbs up for Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Hulkenberg, Heikki Kovalainen, Sergio Perez, Bruno Senna, Dani Clos and Jules Bianchi.

    The rest are a ‘meh’, apart from de la Rosa’s which looks unfinished.

    Reply
  12. Avatar Image

    Catherine (@f1cat) said on 12th March 2012, 13:09

    Kind of off topic, but still on topic….
    I found this moving picture of Bruno Senna with Ayrtons’ helmet.

    Its beautiful!

    Reply
  13. Avatar Image

    Colossal Squid (@colossal-squid) said on 12th March 2012, 13:11

    Vettel, Glock, Grosjean and Kovalainen for me!

    Reply
  14. Avatar Image

    Hairs (@hairs) said on 12th March 2012, 13:12

    The Torro Rosso squad pulling out all the stops to make sure their driver’s helmets are as easy to differentiate from each other as their cars are from Red Bull’s, I see.

    Reply
    • Avatar Image

      BasCB (@bascb) said on 12th March 2012, 13:53

      Pretty much that @hairs

      Reply
    • Avatar Image

      hey (@hey) said on 12th March 2012, 17:51

      Yup. The drivers don’t get their own helmet design until they graduate and pay off their red-bull debt.

      Reply
    • Avatar Image

      US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 12th March 2012, 21:35

      @hairs, yes tons of room for personalization on that helmet it seems. “Look, I have an orange stripe & you don’t.”

      Reply
      • Avatar Image

        ivz (@ivz) said on 13th March 2012, 0:22

        Were the Toro Rosso boys the same last year? I don’t see why they have to be so similar!?
        You can spot the difference of helmets long before the number on the car. As spectators, we wan’t to be able to differentiate the drivers straight away! Not wait for the commentators to tell us who it is!.

        Reply
  15. Avatar Image

    Victor. (@victor) said on 12th March 2012, 13:13

    Raikkonen’s, Kovalainen’s, Button’s, and I hate to say it, Vettel’s. Raikkonen’s black and white rune is fantastic, Kovalainen’s green is brilliant and fresh, and Button’s JB just wins.

    I also like Hamilton’s – I love the subdued colours and the lack of chaos, unlike in the case of Alonso for example.

    I don’t like the helmets of the Toro Rosso driver’s – unimaginative and boring. Having said that, Rosberg’s is the worst (I’ve always hated Schumacher’s as well).

    Reply
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