2013 F1 driver helmets in pictures

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Twenty-two different helmet designs lined up on the grid for the first race of 2013.

But we all know we’ll see a lot more than that during the course of the season. From Sebastian Vettel. In one race weekend…

Here are all the helmets the drivers had in time for the start of the new season.

Sebastian Vettel

No doubt this will be the first of many designs Vettel uses this year. Sure enough, as early as the first practice session in Australia he was sporting a different helmet. Vettel has donned over 50 different helmet designs in the course of his F1 career.

Mark Webber

Mark Webber sticks with his traditional style for 2013.

Fernando Alonso

Familiar pale blue and yellow colours for Fernando Alonso.

Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa’s helmet also sports Ferrari’s new sponsors.

Jenson Button

Button sticks with his very British design.

Sergio Perez

A yellow helmet at McLaren doesn’t mean Lewis Hamilton any more – now it belongs to Sergio Perez.

Kimi Raikkonen

There’s less white on Kimi Raikkonen’s helmet this year…

Romain Grosjean

…and a lot more of it on Romain Grosjean’s.

Nico Rosberg

Both Mercedes drivers have yellow helmets. One way of telling them apart at a glance is the three-pointed star on the front which has a silver surround on Rosberg’s helmet…

Lewis Hamilton

…and a yellow one on Hamilton’s.

Nico Hulkenberg

Nico Hulkenberg swaps orange for red on his helmet for 2013.

Esteban Gutierrez

Sauber rookie Esteban Gutierrez sports a distinctive design.

Paul di Resta

Di Resta has tweaked his design for this year, replacing yellow with orange.

Adrian Sutil

A familiar helmet is back at Force India this year.

Pastor Maldonado

Maldonado’s busy design is much the same as last year’s.

Valtteri Bottas

For his first season as an F1 driver Bottas has redesigned his helmet so that it looks like an extension of the Williams livery.

Jean-Eric Vergne

Vergne has three different options already for 2013.

Daniel Ricciardo

The other Toro Rosso driver also has multiple designs, but just two and the differences between them are more subtle.

Charles Pic

Pic’s initials were red on the helmet he used at Marussia last year, having switched to Caterham they’re now yellow.

Giedo van der Garde

A striking monochrome design for van der Garde. However in Malaysia he used a different version with a tiger design.

Jules Bianchi

Luiz Razia was originally earmarked for the remaining seat at Marussia alongside Max Chilton. Marussia even had his helmet liveried up and ready to go. But after his sponsorship failed to materialise the seat went to Jules Bianchi.

Max Chilton

Chilton’s design stands out in the Marussia cockpit.

Compare this year’s helmets with those sported by the drivers last season:

2013 F1 season preview


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

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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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65 comments on “2013 F1 driver helmets in pictures”

  1. Somehow JB’s newer style never got to my liking. The previous one was classy…

    1. The Union flag colour scheme is a bit cliche.

    2. Agreed. He had some cool variations on the old design too – the St George’s design from 2004/2006, the Carbon and White version from winter testing 2007 and the Black and Green Monster design from Race of Champions 2009. I liked the matte versions he used at Honda in 2008 too.

      The new design seems a bit too fussy for me – doesn’t have the style of the old design. I feared that McLaren would “pimp” his design when he first joined them, but at least he had the classic design for the first few races in 2010, long enough for a 1:2 scale model of it to be made.

  2. I’m drawn to Vettel’s for some reason…

    1. Motor_mad (@)
      28th March 2013, 17:17

      Don’t get used to it…

    2. If he were to keep one design for the rest of his career, I would like it to be this one. It stands out nicely, yet it seems like an enduring design, unlike some of the more ridiculous efforts he has sported over the years.

      1. +1!

    3. I really liked it too.

  3. I really like Van Der Garde’s monochromatic design.

    Another difference between the two Mercedes drivers’ helmets is that Hamilton has an Arai helmet while Rosberg’s is a Schuberth with its distinctive triangualr vents and black plastic visor clasp at the front.

    1. VDG’s is my new favorite. Love it!

      1. Same. Sort of Heikki-ish.

        1. And Alonso’s Monaco one.

  4. @keithcollantine “Familiar pale blue and yellow”

    The colors on the flag of the Principality of Asturias.

  5. Anyone Noticed that Jules Bianchi’s helmet has the Ferrari logo on it?? :P Really wish he’ll be a Ferrari driver in the future

    1. Right! Well spotted. Hope he’ll be challenging ALO next seasson

    2. so it has! i never noticed that

      1. That might have been his first day at Marussia in Jerez. Then he got his proper Marussia helmet.

    3. I had never noticed but it should be normal because he is a member of the ferrari driver academy

    4. It’s the Ferrari Driver academy logo

  6. Van der Garde, Chilton and Bottas for my top three, I like simple design Hakkinen-finnish-style!
    @keith Can we get a poll?

    1. Bottas’ is a bit Mika Salo-ey too…

  7. i think i like Pic’s and Bianchi’s the most.

    Di resta and Button must have the ugliest.

    I never realised just how similar Vergne and Ricciardos were.

  8. In my opinion; Felipe Massa, Pastor Maldonado, Esteban Gutierrez, and Giedo Van der Garde have the top 3 best helmet designs. They are all distinctive, look cool, and are unique in their own way.

    Also, all four Red Bull sponsored helmets are the four worst and least creative. Don’t know what, but they all seem to lack creativity. Red Bull logo’s influence seems too large.

    1. Felipe Massa, Pastor Maldonado, Esteban Gutierrez, and Giedo Van der Garde have the top 3 best helmet designs.

      *Gets out calculator and adds up the numbers*

  9. I find helmet designs really interesting.

    Martin Brundle once said that it’s like your signature and that it shouldn’t change all that often!

    To be honest, agree with him, the distinctive helmet designs such as Senna, Alesi, Mansell, Prost et al seem to have been consigned to the past, with only a handful of drivers (Button, Webber, Massa etc) keeping their designs throughout their careers.

    I personally like Gutierrez’s the best, it’s very eye-catching, and I actually find myself liking Vettel’s (though, as has been mentioned, he’ll no doubt change it next time!).

    I’m finding it more and more tricky to distinguish team-mates as well. Particularly at Mercedes, Lotus, Toro Rosso and Caterham. I used to be able to pick out a driver instantly, but i’m struggling a bit more this year!

  10. I think I like Sutil’s the most. Big fan of that. Also VDG, Grosjean’s and Kimi’s are also rather good for me.

  11. I love helmet designs. One of the few areas were drivers can show some creativity. Its a shame the sponsor decals have gotten bigger recently though. I know they’ve always been present, but the Monster strip covers half of Hamiltons and Rosbergs helmet! Some for Vodaphone on JB’s and Perez. Such a pity.

    1. @skitty4lb, I agree with your view on the sponsor decals. Only the Red Bull and Toro Rosso drivers have even remotely incorporated them effectively.

  12. mad props go to Nico Rosberg and Max Chilton for the simplicity of theirs. As a graphic designer I generally find race helmets vomit inducingly schizophrenic. As if we can see all the patterning and detail on the television or from the stands.

    Simpler textures and bolder shapes would be much more effective in my view—significantly more telegraphic from a distance and while in motion (like Kimi’s James Hunt homage: http://goo.gl/pZNxi). Though I do enjoy the play with metallics, holograms, and even lights that we see with some of Vettel’s more adventurous design.

  13. It’s funny, even when Vettel and Webber have the same colour crash helmets, Vettel’s is somehow better. :-)

  14. Man, those are mostly fugly. Good graphic design is completely lost here. There’s something to be said of the simple designs of the 70’s/80’s.

    1. James Hunt’s springs to mind.

      1. That being said, if James Hunt was a racing driver today his helmet would be chock-a-block with sponsors…

    2. Well said, there isn’t a decent helmet design amongst them.

      I’m a biker so I buy a new helmet every 3-5 years and some of the race replicas available from the Superbike and motoGP riders are of far higher quality than any of these; Rossi stands out as someone who brings out some really interesting designs but he’s not the only one.
      I’d never think about buying a replica of any of the current F1 drivers helmets as I think they’re all really bland and lacking any kind of originality.

  15. Adrian Sutils helmet is by far the best looking of the bunch, followed bit Kimis. I kind of like that they left a good portion or white in there, making it a very clean design.

    I’m finding Sergios helmet very odd. Going from jolly rancher pink and green to yellow-green is a massive jump in terms of color scheme, and it isn’t inspired by anything on the McLaren. It’s a bit Hamilton-esque. Can anyone confirm whether McLaren drivers have to use Arai helmets? Perez seems to have abandoned Bell for it.

    1. I think they do.I was lucky enough to win a full size exact replica of Lewis Hamiltons’ 2012 helmet in a Mclaren competion. It is an Arai GP6, hand painted with a bulletproof visor and came with an authenticity certificate from Mclaren

  16. Is Sutil sponsored by Capri Sun because nobody trusts him with glass bottles anymore :P

      1. ROFL

        COTD right there.

  17. If Vettel keeps pushing the technical gizmo’s of his helmet designs much further over the next years, he is going to be electrocuted while racing at some point .. :-D

  18. One day I WILL make one for myself!

  19. @Keith Collantine I believe the one you have for Bianchi is not the one he is using at marussia. Those photos were taking during winter testing when he only had a Force India and a Ferrari helmet available to him.
    This is the correct one:
    http://images.planetf1.com/13/03/800×600/Jules-Bianchi-Helmet-Marussia_2914653.jpg
    http://www.auto123.com/ArtImages/153621/f1-helmet-jules-bianchi-inline.jpg

    1. How I keep messing up the reply is mystery to me, here goes nothing (@keithcollantine)

  20. Twenty-two different helmet designs lined up on the grid for the first race of 2013.

    But we all know we’ll see a lot more than that during the course of the season. From Sebastian Vettel. In one race weekend…

    Well said @keithcollantine!

    1. “There are two fewer helmets on the grid this year but no shortage of designs with Sebastian Vettel changing his every five minutes.” – that too!

  21. I actually really like Gutierrez’s helmet, the yellow reminds me of bumblebee the transformer, which is awesome!

  22. Up close Massa’s reigns supreme in my Opinion, but in the cockpit it looks average..as for Alonso’s helmet up close it looks average, but on board his car I like the blue sticking out of the Ferrari cockpit.

  23. VDG has the best helmet by far – love the matte black. Bottas, Hulkenburg, and both Toro Rosso’s have the most boring designs.
    It’s a shame that so much of the helmet’s designs are taken up by the sponsor’s logo’s, I think it would be far easier to tell drivers apart if these were done away with.
    I play goalie in hockey, and although F1 helmets are cool they will never compare to those seen in the NHL. Some such as Luongo’s, Crawford’s, Hiller’s, Pavelec’s and Price’s are more pieces of art than protective equipment. Granted that they can be seen more closely by the crowd and aren’t moving at 300 kph.

  24. Bottas’ helmet is, in my own view, the best of a bad bunch. To me, the high water mark of F1 helmets was the 1980s. Simple designs and colours. Helmets seem to get more busy every season.

  25. my top 3: Bottas (simple yet effective), Pic (love that subtle image of eiffel), Both Sauber’s
    bottom 3: di Resta, all redbull backed drivers with exception of Vettel :p

    hey @keithcollantine, can you do the same for GP2 drivers this season? :)

  26. they all look fugly to me.

  27. Vettel’s helmet and Guttierrez are my favourite.
    The RBR driver will change on the China GP for sure. He present’s really good helmet’s but changing all the time, for me it’s like he lacks something, that for example Senna had, Senna’s helmet maybe be one of the most well known helmets in racing world.
    I’m struggling too to sometimes see wich Mercedes driver is it because they look the same driver.

  28. Gutierrez’ is very good, even if it doesn’t go with the car too well.

  29. I like Gutierrez’s. It’s plain, but eye-catching.

  30. Chilton has by far the best looking helmet. So simple and yet so brilliantly striking.

  31. Van der Garde, Button and Bottas – in that order.

  32. Gav (@foxtrotoscar21)
    29th March 2013, 14:58

    Kimi’s is my fave – it was one of my favorites last year and this year i like the simplicity.

  33. Both finns got perfectly simple and simply perfect helmet designs.

  34. On a scale of 1 to 10 (based on the pictures, so not how it looks when in the car):

    VET 7
    WEB 3
    ALO 5
    MAS 4
    BUT 3
    PER 1
    RAI 7
    GRO 6
    ROS 8
    HAM 6
    HUL 6
    GUT 7
    DIR 2
    SUT 7
    MAL 2
    BIT 7
    VER 5
    RIC 5
    PIC 6
    VDG 8
    BIA 4
    CHI 7

    No real super standouts, but a few disasters!

  35. I really like that blue version of Vettel’s helmet, pity he won with it in Malaysia, it’ll be gone forever now! Webber, Massa and Alonso all have destinctive designs which they keep fresh through subtle variations each year. I was a big fan of raikkonen’s helmet last year, so I haven’t really warmed to the 2013 version yet. The same is true of Hamilton’s, sopmething isn’t quite right about it for me, I think the two highest red stripes have to go, it would be a much cleaner desgn without them.

    Of the new boys, I love Bottas and Gutierrez’s designs, they are fantastic! Bottas’ is very simple and clean and for some reason reminds me of Mika Salo’s, not sure why as the colours are all wrong! The Blue and yellow combo on Gutierrez’s helmet just work fantastically together, add that to the fact that the design itself isn’t too fussy and you’ve got a winner.

  36. Gutierrez and Chilton’s helmets are good, very eye-catching.
    Bottas one is simple, but distinctive.
    I also like Vettel’s blue one, but probably he will change it in a race time.

    Worst? Toro Rosso pair.
    Zero personality.

  37. In Malasya and Australia was very hard to difference Rosberg and Hamilton…..the two helmets are similiars, even with the F1fanatic hints, at race there’s just one Mercedes car…lol

  38. Like Kimi’s the best, really don’t like the Red Bulls at all, just doesn’t seem to have much imagination about either of them.

  39. Kimi’s helmet is still the coolest.

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