Kovalainen reveals new Angry Birds helmet design
F1 pictures
Heikki Kovalainen has changed his helmet design on the eve of the 2012 season.
Kovalainen’s new helmet carries the branding of hit mobile game Angry Birds:
- Heikki Kovalainen’s helmet, 2012
- Heikki Kovalainen’s helmet, 2012
- Heikki Kovalainen’s helmet, 2012
- Heikki Kovalainen’s helmet, 2012
- Heikki Kovalainen’s helmet, 2012
See here for a guide to all the other drivers’ helmet designs for 2012:
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Image © Caterham/LAT









Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 15th March 2012, 6:26
Appropriate, given that the car looks like this.
Julian (@julian) said on 15th March 2012, 6:41
or this
(i hope this works)
scribbler (@scribbler) said on 15th March 2012, 8:31
More like this
zero. (@zero) said on 15th March 2012, 13:09
lol, you guys just made my day. helmet approved!
Aldoid said on 15th March 2012, 6:29
Lol! I like it… fun design.
SimBri (@f1addict) said on 15th March 2012, 6:31
Nooooooooo, Heikki’s was one of the best! I really wish helmet sponsorship wasn’t allowed.
Julian (@julian) said on 15th March 2012, 6:43
looking past the whole sponsorship thing, i actually like it.. its pretty neat
PT (@pt) said on 15th March 2012, 10:27
This is just spectacular! It goes well with the Arai design and is aggressive enough to appear striking. This is 10,000 times better than his regular green and white livery which for me was hardly exciting.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 15th March 2012, 6:51
@f1addict – I don’t think this is sponsorship. I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that Kovalainen is a massive Angry Birds fan. The CNN, GE and Renault decals are all advertising, of course, but the concept of the helmet design isn’t.
Erkki Hamalainen said on 15th March 2012, 8:02
Of course it’s sponsorship, as confirmed by Kovalainen in an interview. No way a team would allow that kind of exposure in F1 without money. But it’s true that Heikki is also a fan of Angry Birds.
Joey-Poey (@joey-poey) said on 15th March 2012, 14:16
Didn’t it originate in his home country, too? I mean, I can excuse the sponsorship because I’m sure there’s some national pride in there as well.
Tengkurex said on 15th March 2012, 7:26
I think it’s sponsored by Rovio
Estesark (@estesark) said on 15th March 2012, 14:02
Rovio are a Finnish company, Heikki is a Finnish driver – that probably goes some way to explaining this deal :)
Estesark (@estesark) said on 15th March 2012, 15:11
Turun Sanomat are reporting that Kimi has some kind of Angry Birds tie-in as well.
Partial translation: “Kimi’s cap features the logo of the new Angry Birds Space game … we’ll know more about Räikkönen’s cooperation with Angry Birds once the new game has been formally presented”
BasCB (@bascb) said on 15th March 2012, 6:33
While I really like drivers to rather have a good design and only change it minimally over the years, this design is really nice and I hope he sticks with it for a long time.
bosyber (@bosyber) said on 15th March 2012, 6:36
I fully agree with everything you just said @bascb. His previous design was a bit too cluttered for me, though I liked the striking green. This helmet is a better design to show on camera (ie. from a distance away).
mias said on 15th March 2012, 6:36
In fact Kimi’s got one Angry Bird
ietoo.andae23 (@andae23) said on 15th March 2012, 6:46
AWESOME!!!
racelitze (@racelitze) said on 15th March 2012, 6:46
Since tracktion control was banned teams getting used to the new slingshot start procedure…
dam00r (@dam00r) said on 16th March 2012, 0:43
@racelitze hahaha!
xjr15jaaag (@xjr15jaaag) said on 15th March 2012, 6:48
That is gorgeous!!!!
BROOKSY007 (@brooksy007) said on 15th March 2012, 7:05
Its fun!! Sure he isn’t working for LOONEY TUNES cartoons!! Lol
Alonso could have the Roadrunner
and massa the Coyote on his helmet!!!
Jo (@musicwordsthoughts) said on 15th March 2012, 7:29
Oh goodness this is gold!
Victor_RO (@victor_ro) said on 15th March 2012, 9:03
Too late, Alex Zanardi already claimed the Roadrunner for his own helmet about 15 years ago. :)
Gagnon (@johnniewalker) said on 15th March 2012, 16:14
@brooksy007 +1 COTD here for me =D
Mike (@mike) said on 15th March 2012, 7:08
Great helmet! :D
Unless he crashes at the start in Melbourne… then… then he won’t live it down.
John H (@john-h) said on 15th March 2012, 10:03
My thoughts entirely. Setting himself up for a meeting with the barriers somewhat!
MahavirShah (@mahavirshah) said on 15th March 2012, 7:13
Awesome design. The font which spells out Heikki is really nice and the overall design is fantastic as well. Also like the way his number is printed at the back.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 15th March 2012, 7:14
That’s absolutely brilliant! Love it!
TED BELL said on 15th March 2012, 17:05
How do you say it….”what rubish”…
Helmet livery has become ridiculous and with all the stripes, swooshes, multiple colors and sponsor logos all add up to making it difficult to recognise a driver at speed. Then at the next race he has a new livery….
Gone are the days when your helmet was your trademark. In the car, on the track or in the paddock you new who the driver was and there was no mistaking it.
Today drivers change them so often that it has indeed become next to impossible knowing who is who.
Everyone on earth knows Jackie Stewart by his trademark helmet.
Can’t be said its like that anymore.
J said on 15th March 2012, 19:24
How do you say it…”miserable”…
sesku (@sesku) said on 16th March 2012, 1:02
we not in 1970 anymore.
Jo (@musicwordsthoughts) said on 15th March 2012, 7:30
Loving Heikki’s new helmet :D It totally suits him!
(Still miss the green though)
JCost (@jcost) said on 15th March 2012, 7:41
I love it! Where can I get a 1:2 scale?
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys) said on 15th March 2012, 7:50
Um, it’s ony just been unveiled for this weekend. I doubt anyone has had the idea of making a scaled version of it yet, much less making them available for sale.
JCost (@jcost) said on 15th March 2012, 13:49
Too bad, I fear you’re right.
TED BELL said on 15th March 2012, 17:08
Twice the size of normal??? Why would you want it so big??
dam00r (@dam00r) said on 16th March 2012, 0:45
It’s half the normal size.
Mads (@mads) said on 15th March 2012, 7:56
I love that helmet! That is probably the best looking helmet I have ever seen.