Possibly the second most-pointless rule implemented in Formula 1 this past decade (behind any intended to hamstring Mercedes-AMG) was the limit on how many helmet designs a driver could wear each season. Sure, it made drivers more easily recognized for the brief period before the halo became mandatory, but mostly, it did nothing more than constrain drivers’ creativity. But now that the rule has been suspended for the 2020 season, McLaren driver Lando Norris will take advantage of his newfound freedom by wearing a helmet designed by a fan—specifically, a six-year-old. In other words, he has just produced a lifelong fan of F1.
The design, drawn up by one Eva Muttram and submitted by her father to a helmet design contest according to Motorsport, will be worn for this weekend’s British Grand Prix. Norris will presumably revert to his normal design for the following weekend’s race, which will also be held at Silverstone Circuit; F1 is using single-country (or even single-circuit) double- and tripleheaders to reduce teams’ need to travel, and thus, risk of exposure to COVID-19.
2020 British Grand Prix special helmet for Lando Norris
, Instagram | @landonorris
2020 British Grand Prix special helmet for Lando Norris
, Instagram | @landonorris“My helmet design for this weekend! THANK YOU EVA! Eva’s six and she created this for my design competition and it just reminded me a lot of when I was younger scribbling away coming up with some cool things, it’s just super original,” Norris said on his social media channels.
“Thanks for taking your time to design it Eva, I’ll be wearing it all weekend and thanks to everyone else who sent in their design as well. Hopefully we can do more stuff like this soon,” added Norris.
Considering F1 drivers are commonly known for living in Monaco high-rises and oftentimes being compltely out of touch with the general public; newer, younger drivers are beginning to change the precedent established by previous generations of racers.
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