The 2023 Formula 1 season begins with the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix where fans get to see each car racing for the first time, and also each F1 drivers helmet in action for the first time.
Some drivers have switched their helmet up from their 2022 designs while there are also four new lids on the grid to enjoy.
After pre–season testing there’s an apparent pecking order but nothing will be certain until the teams are going all out with something on the line in a grand prix weekend.
The winning driver of the opening race of the season hasn’t won the world championship since 2016, so it remains to be seen whether any of the 20 drivers can break that curse in 2023.
Max Verstappen F1 Helmet
The reigning world champion returns to the grid with another white number, but trading the gold for Red Bull red, while the lion on the top of the helmet remains.
Sergio Perez F1 Helmet
Sergio Perez has a neon helmet for 2023, which features some pretty neat glow-in-the-dark elements that will be pretty handy if there’s a power cut during a night race.
Charles Leclerc F1 Helmet
And the title for reddest helmet goes to a Ferrari driver… Shock. Leclerc‘s cut more and more black and white out of his original helmet over the years and now the only design is the Monegasque flag in his race number.
Carlos Sainz F1 Helmet
Carlos Sainz also channels his patriotic pride into his helmet – in a more all-encompassing manner combined with a mean black topping.
Fernando Alonso F1 Helmet
A break from Fernando Alonso‘s legendary, world championship-winning helmets sees a Stabilo highlighter special that also incorporates the Aston Martin wings.
Lance Stroll F1 Helmet
The driver now expected to compete at the Bahrain GP, after it looked like Felipe Drugovich would take his place after Lance Stroll’s cycling accident.
However, Stroll is back and he’ll be sporting a similar look to 2022, just with a silver maple leaf on top rather than maroon.
Lewis Hamilton F1 Helmet
Remember Lewis Hamilton‘s iconic Ayrton Senna-inspired design he battled for the championship under in 2007, poking out of the beautiful chromed McLaren?
He broke from that a while back and usually remodels his headwear year-on-year, this season with a neon yellow and purple look.
George Russell F1 Helmet
George Russell continues his ice-blue design from 2023, though it does make you wonder why Mercedes didn’t make that the colour of his race number on the car, rather than that questionable grass-green.
Esteban Ocon F1 Helmet
If they based qualifying on how fast each helmet looked, Ocon might well be on pole position, and his glitter-gold number on the top only adds to this raunchy number.
Pierre Gasly F1 Helmet
Completing the best helmet lineup on the grid, Gasly‘s beautiful white, gold and red design is a massive upgrade from his AlphaTauri-dominated 2022 helmet
Kevin Magnussen F1 Helmet
From one of the best helmet designs on the grid to arguably the worst, Magnussen‘s lid is just so basic in the red, black and white Haas colours.
Nico Hulkenberg F1 Helmet
It’s a pretty marmite design from Nico Hulkenberg but he should get points for at least trying to be a little different from Magnussen.
Valtteri Bottas F1 Helmet
After turning heads with his fantastic, brilliant, mulleted cartoon head drawn onto his testing helmet, it’s a more traditional permanent design for Valtteri Bottas that still looks very clean.
Zhou Guanyu F1 Helmet
How cool is this? Inspired by the Chinese New Year, Zhou Guanyu‘s purple and neon design is one of the classiest looks on the grid.
Lando Norris F1 Helmet
Lando Norris has very much opted for a evolution not revolution approach with a very similar helmet to 2022.
Oscar Piastri F1 Helmet
Oscar Piastri‘s design has a retro late-2000s/early-2010s vibe to it that sticks out amongst the rest of the grid and reflects his F2 helmet and Australian heritage.
Alex Albon F1 Helmet
Alex Albon‘s helmet combines Williams colours and his heritage extremely well, it’s one of the tidier offerings this seasons.
Logan Sargeant F1 Helmet
Another rookie whose helmet reflects his nationality, there’s no surprise that F1’s first full-time American driver in over 15 years has the stars and stripes displayed proudly on his helmet.
Yuki Tsunoda F1 Helmet
With Red Bull/AlphaTauri drivers needing to portray the team logo so prominently on their helmets there’s usually not much room for creativity, so Yuki Tsunoda deserves extra credit for managing to produce such a good-looking design.
Though those leaves are out of season for nine months of the year.
Nyck de Vries F1 Helmet
Nyck de Vries has gone for a much safer design, but unsurprisingly the Dutch orange does feature prominently.
