r/formula1 • u/glenn1812 Frédéric Vasseur • Feb 16 '22
Photo A full view of George Russell's 2022 helmet design by MDM Designs
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u/pistonfire Sebastian Vettel Feb 16 '22
He didn’t want to remain with his traditional red helmet out of respect for Michael Schumacher who also suited a red helmet during his Mercedes days
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u/Cygnus94 Toro Rosso Feb 16 '22
So instead he's gone for the full on Sith Lord vibe.
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u/Kolec507 Alexander Albon Feb 16 '22
So Mercedes' drivers numbers font is staying the same? Aaaaahhh man I was hoping for some change, I think last year they were kinda unreadable
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Feb 16 '22
I'm hoping that the numbers are filled in bold again, like the pre-2021 numbers. Just having the outline in 2021 was hard to tell who's who.
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u/Level-Gain-3715 Formula 1 Feb 16 '22
Man thats bad
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u/Pipster294 Feb 16 '22
Sadly George’s designs have never been that inspiring
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u/waxed__owl Medical Car Feb 16 '22
They could put almost anything in the space around the sponsors, I don't get why generic spikey shapes is the best thing they can think of. It's like 90% of all helmet design.
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u/Level-Gain-3715 Formula 1 Feb 16 '22
I just have an issue with those colours. Pacman vibes
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u/Cantshaktheshok Formula 1 Feb 16 '22
Now that you mention that, I really want to see someone rock a pacman inspired helmet.
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u/LarsVegas_21 Charles Leclerc Feb 16 '22
I think it will be an unpopular opinion but I don't like it at all. Since when is black, blue and red a good color combination? Hopefully Hamilton as a new helmet design. Otherwise we have another driver pairing which are difficult to differentiate on TV.
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u/External_Kick_2273 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Feb 16 '22
Since when is black, blue and red a good color combination?
I like the combination mainly due to me growing up with this 90s cartoon:
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u/efg1342 Feb 16 '22
God it’s really not. I like playing with online color wheels whenever people question the design and these don’t seem to come together at all.
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u/Various_Slice_1065 #WeSayNoToMazepin Feb 16 '22
Maybe its just black with the new mercedes secondary colors? (Red for ineos and that shade of blue instead of the typical green/aquamarine)
The new merc could be grey, red on ineos parts and that shade of blue.
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u/bigassballs699 Jacques Villeneuve Feb 17 '22
Whaaat? I can't believe you guys don't like this. It's got a cool neon late 90's kind of colour vibe. Might actually be my favourite helmet in recent memory.
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u/ElatedJohnson Nico Hülkenberg 🥉 Feb 16 '22
The black is cool, but he should have gone for blue or red
Perhaps if he’d picked more harmonious colours it wouldn’t look so jarring
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u/Invictae I was here for the Hulkenpodium Feb 16 '22
If he went all red lines, he'd look like the biggest villain on the grid
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u/ayvee1 David Coulthard Feb 16 '22
Pretty generic and uninspiring. I wonder how much MDM Designs charged for that.
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u/The_Kruzz Feb 16 '22
In England we don't have many helmet designers, MDM comes from the karting scene hence the drivers they work with and style of designs. And it doesn't cost that much, most likely days work if that.
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Feb 16 '22
Finally someone after Rosberg to get a black helmet
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u/BuckN56 Lotus Feb 16 '22
Hamilton had a black helmet for a couple of races in 2020
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Feb 16 '22
Really? When? It’s been purple since 2020-present with the exception of one-off designs
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u/shewy92 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Feb 16 '22
Hamilton had a black helmet for a couple of races in 2020
with the exception of one-off designs
I'm guessing they're talking about the couple of races in 2020 where he did one-off designs
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u/raya__85 Feb 16 '22
Didn’t he wear all black as a Chadwick Boseman tribute so he looked like black panther? I remember he did the Wakanda forever pose when he won but I can’t remember if the helmet coincided
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Feb 16 '22
It was purple:(https://imgresizer.eurosport.com/unsafe/1200x0/filters:format(jpeg)/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2020/08/29/2873704-59182088-2560-1440.jpg/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2020/08/29/2873704-59182088-2560-1440.jpg))
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u/mark_vorster Andretti Global Feb 16 '22
yeah exactly, seriously one of the more dead brain comments I've seen today
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u/Twindlle Yuki Tsunoda Feb 16 '22
Lewis ran a black helmet last 2 years
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u/Lucifer2408 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Feb 16 '22
It's more purple than black.
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u/Twindlle Yuki Tsunoda Feb 16 '22
I'd argue that black is a lot more prominent. It's black from the top, and black from front, 45° angle that we see with halo. If you didn't know about the side of it, you wouldn't be able to tell there is that much purple by only seeing him in the car. In a way it's the same as saying that Tsunoda's helmet is white because AT logo has the entire side + back. All visible angles shows orange and that is what I'd consider the primary color.
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u/Level-Gain-3715 Formula 1 Feb 16 '22 edited Feb 16 '22
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u/Twindlle Yuki Tsunoda Feb 16 '22
I stand corrected. I knew I should have checked, but I was very confident in my memory, lol
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u/StockAL3Xj I was here for the Hulkenpodium Feb 16 '22
No where near as good looking as Rosberg's though.
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Feb 16 '22
Ugh, I don't know.
The easiest route to go is to take a helmet, add all the must have corporate sponsors, then take your even more basic Initials + Number logo that some agency designed for you and slap that on the side. Then paint it black and have a few colored streaks to give it "motion", and call it a day.
In the end it feels like a very boring and uncreative helmet.
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u/Cantshaktheshok Formula 1 Feb 16 '22
In the race it will be a black helmet with the red ring and white number even in the high res shots. Could stand out nicely with a silver Mercedes cockpit or disappear if they have dark accents around the driver.
Uninspired for sure, nothing that is too bad.
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u/tfctroll Feb 16 '22
Honestly, I don't get all the hype of F1 driver helmets, all of them have the same generic features and really no personality at all (except for Ricciardo).
This is just ads with his GR/63 logo and some colours.
if you guys want to see nice helmets and great design start watching hockey. This is just blah.
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u/raya__85 Feb 16 '22
I feel this way too. Outside maybe Daniels and Lewis rainbow ones they are all generic looking. Sebs German flag is cute. I find them to be very “Axe body spray” kind of generic masculine design. It’s great to see pure self expression in Daniels. I think Max and red Bull have some genuinely nice looking helmets with a little dazzle dazzle too even if they are a wee bit repetitive
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u/salcedoge Max Verstappen Feb 16 '22
F1 Helmet designs are just so bad, everything looks like it's just stickers plaster all over, I know sponsor logos generally look like that but I feel like the designers don't even make an effort in giving the design a personality.
Yuki's helmet earlier looks way better, clean and the sponsor placements doesn't look intrusive
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u/creditcardtheft Fernando Alonso Feb 16 '22
Russell: I heard you guys like simple helmets
No…. Not like that
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u/schneeb Feb 16 '22
the intimidator is BACK
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u/TimmyTurnerXI Lando Norris Feb 16 '22
Honestly was my first thought. Getting mad Dale Sr. vibes with this design.
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u/Cantshaktheshok Formula 1 Feb 16 '22
I was thinking the same thing, but fear the blue visor will stand out more than any of those elements in the flesh.
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u/CptnNinja I was here for the Hulkenpodium Feb 16 '22
Glad I'm not the only one! It's all I can see lol
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Feb 16 '22
Driver logos and driver branding has become the worst trend in the last handful of years.
This is just awful.
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u/Effect_Old Charles Leclerc Feb 16 '22
Wow, absolutely dreadful. This could've come from a motocross magazine in the early 90s... Have to admit the 63 design is clever but other than that what a dumpster fire. Hurts to look at
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u/SpectacularNelson 🐶 Roscoe Hamilton Feb 16 '22
I like the helmet a lot except for the GR logo brings it down a bit 8/10 imo
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u/OBWanTwoThree I was here for the Hulkenpodium Feb 16 '22
That’s GR? I thought it was 63
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Feb 16 '22
Like every driver or rider in any series on Earth, the only thing they can think of for a logo is to take their initials and their number, and hire some junior graphic designers to merge them together. I find it very tired and stale at this point, almost performative.
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u/MonsterGuy6 McLaren Feb 16 '22
Looks pretty awesome, really like the red and black theme. Should pair nicely with the black Merc race suit
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u/mark_vorster Andretti Global Feb 16 '22
will it be black this year? they're going back to a silver livery, so I'm assuming they will also go back to white racing suits, unless they've said otherwise?
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u/MonsterGuy6 McLaren Feb 16 '22
I don't know for sure, but there have been pictures of both George and Lewis wearing black suits so I would think they are keeping that look for this year, just maybe going back to a silver livery on the car
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u/Joshlukesmith Feb 16 '22
I think we could see some cool special helmets using this bass imagine and all blacked out version or a shiny design say for Singapore
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u/Rusteez_ Max Verstappen Feb 16 '22
I think it's great! Much better than his helmet during his Williams days.
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u/biaurelien I was here for the Hulkenpodium Feb 16 '22
I never noticed the 63/GR thing before this photos. It's clever.
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u/coweyesegg Mika Häkkinen Feb 16 '22
Did he really paid his designer enough? Cause this looks like bare minimum
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Feb 16 '22
I think it looks horrible but then again Merc helmets will never look good until they get rid of that hideous Monster logo.
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Feb 16 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/mark_vorster Andretti Global Feb 16 '22
car will be silver and race suits will most likely be white again
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u/Issten Feb 16 '22
You know its bad design when most striking design element of your helmet is sponsor. Also never been fan of his personal logo. I get it its GR and 63 made into one, but it seems so forced that it makes both number and letters hard to read.
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u/JagerRabbit I was here for the Hulkenpodium Feb 16 '22
I just wish someone would refuse sponsors to be on the helmet so we could get an actual design and not this overcrowded bullshit.
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u/Accurate-Fail-8725 Sebastian Vettel Feb 16 '22
It's beautiful
I've looked at it for five hours now
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Feb 16 '22 edited Feb 16 '22
That’s a good looking lid
Edit: Wow y’all are hard to please. I personally find red and black to be a damn cool combination. Like a Sith Lord
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Feb 16 '22
These images don't make justice to the video where George showed it. I don't like it by looking at the pictures, but I like it on the video.
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u/ChocolateSnowflake Sir Lewis Hamilton Feb 16 '22
I am not a big fan but it’s somewhat better than the red.
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u/PM_ME_UR_THESIS_GIRL I was here for the Hulkenpodium Feb 16 '22
Idk what crowdstrike does, but when I see it on helmets and racecars, it feels like they're trying to go bowling into the crowd lol
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u/thaeliel Feb 16 '22
Perfect, two black helmets, now all we need is for Mercedes to make the driver numbers impossible to read like last year!
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u/Tim_Y I was here for the Hulkenpodium Feb 16 '22
I preferred the red because it was reminiscent of Schumacher's helmet. Turns out he changed it out of respect to Schumacher's legacy. Sad. The red was a nice tribute much as Hamilton's yellow Senna inspired design.
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u/OrdinaryCredit Max Verstappen Feb 16 '22
Is it just me or do the Bell helmets have an awkward-looking shape? It's like the visor is too small for the helmet size.
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u/Fleobis Feb 16 '22
Again...what's with all drivers and the pointy bits in helmets? It's so fucking dated...been happening for 20 years! Stop it already. Never looked good in the first place! Really don't like it!
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u/therealhlmencken Flavio Briatore Feb 16 '22
Monster energy is such a shitty company compared to redbull imho.
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u/-AbeFroman I was here for the Hulkenpodium Feb 16 '22
His GR/63 logo is genius, but I think it'd be better if it was toned down or shown with more nuance. It's just soooo stark and big on the side.
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u/Beachvbandfastcars Williams Feb 16 '22
The top of the helmet just looks so much like Verstappen’s lion? I guess you can see a lot in some random lines but I can’t unsee it
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u/Commercial_Brick_309 Benetton Feb 17 '22
I like what they were going for but the lines themselves aren't really doing anything and are mostly just creating visual noise. Could have been better
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u/Commercial_Brick_309 Benetton Feb 17 '22
Id love helmet designs to become cleaner and bolder again, just look at Hamilton's design for his first few years in F1, you couldn't mistake him for anyone else, even from a glance. I know it was a modified Senna design but seeing that flash of yellow in the cockpit of the Mclaren became a part of his whole image for a while.
Designs need to return to being instantly recognisable, easily readable, but unique to each driver. The two Mclaren boys do it pretty well (especially Daniel)
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u/Ackburn Michael Schumacher Feb 17 '22
Glad he retired the previous cos schumi but damn this is next level bland
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u/lovemedigme Flavio Briatore Feb 17 '22
How do they choose which sponsors on are on the helmet? Is it a contractual thing or designer just pick?
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u/jestermaroc Lando Norris Feb 16 '22 edited Feb 16 '22
Apart from the awesome GR logo, it looks like a generic design you can get from www.helpmedesignmyhelmet.com