Max Verstappen has revealed that he was victorious once again, but this time in a fight against Red Bull regarding his helmet design.
Helmet designs are massively important to all racing drivers, as they represent a chance to be unique and noticeable.
One thing which is always noticed about Red Bull drivers and Red Bull Junior drivers, is that their designs are often very similar.
All Red Bull drivers have the energy drink company’s logo feature massively on their helmet, making it difficult to differentiate each driver.
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Verstappen wasn’t a fan of this and has always preferred his own design, with him having designed his own helmets whilst in karting.
He recognises that a driver’s helmet is their “identity”, making a unique design particularly important.
The two-time World Champion recently revealed that with Red Bull, the Austrians plaster their logos onto a driver’s helmet before they get to create their own design, something Verstappen wasn’t happy about.
Verstappen demanded that he gets to put his design on the helmet first, and then the Red Bull logos.
Remarkably, Verstappen was victorious, with his personal lion design being incorporated onto the helmet before the Red Bull logo.
“Before, whilst karting and also in Formula 3, I always drove with my own helmet design, and when I signed with Red Bull you actually lose a lot of your own design, because there’s a big Red Bull logo on everything. So it took me a couple of years to push this through,” Verstappen told Viaplay.
“Actually, all Red Bull helmets, they get Red Bull pasted on there first, and then you have to design around it. I said, I’m going to make my design first, and then we stick Red Bull in it.”
Lewis Hamilton is another driver who’s stressed the importance of a unique design, so that they can maintain their identity.
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Verstappen completely agrees with Hamilton on this, given that it’s only the helmets which really separate two team-mates.
“It’s just kind of your identity, so of course I think that’s important,” Verstappen continued.
“That’s the only thing you’re recognised by when you’re in the car. The rest of the car is the same as your team-mate.”