Formula 1 returns to Sao Paulo for one of the best events on the calendar, with the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix set to continue a strong Americas leg and two drivers are celebrating that with special helmet designs.
The United States GP was one of the best races of 2023, with a three-team battle for the win and Charles Leclerc took the first of two consecutive pole positions after Max Verstappen made a rare qualifying mistake.
A week later, the Mexico City GP delivered an instant-classic qualifying session that was more bonkers than Broadmoor, followed up by the best modern race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
However, it’s been easy to forget there’s a grand prix going on at Interlagos this weekend given the proliferation of big off-track stories since F1 left Mexico.
Between the potential cancellation of the 2023 Abu Dhabi GP, Fernando Alonso apparently considering retirement or joining Red Bull, and Daniel Ricciardo also in the mix to replace Sergio Perez, it’s been quite a week.
But all that just distracts from the fact that this weekend should be one of the best of the 2023 F1 season. Interlagos hasn’t hosted a bad race since 2015 – 2017 and 2018 weren’t stellar, but still had enough to make them interesting – and the stage is set for another fascinating three days this time around.
Mercedes are a legitimate contender to repeat George Russell‘s famous win from 12 months ago, while McLaren have been proving their own pessimism wrong since the 2023 Singapore GP.
Verstappen and Red Bull remain the favourites though, the Dutchman could take his second career win at Interlagos while Perez will be desperate to rebuild his gap to Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings after it was slashed to 20 points in Mexico.
Lewis Hamilton
Speaking of which, Hamilton doesn’t do many one-off helmets but it was one of the surest bets of the season that he’d break that norm for Brazil.
The honourary Brazilian citizen announced the design with the phrase ‘Senna siempre’, but Hamilton‘s design also harks back to his own lid at the start of his racing career.
Sporting a Senna-inspired helmet since his karting days, Hamilton‘s design at McLaren is still one of the most iconic in modern F1 and it would be cool to see him return to that before he retires.
Esteban Ocon
Ocon channels Brazil’s other great love with this design. Not too dissimilar to Hamilton‘s lid, it features the Brazilian Football Association’s logo on top, and should make Ocon stand out for Alpine this weekend.
