F1 helmets: Secrets of those skid lids

We don’t talk about helmets much in F1 – engines, aerodynamics, drivers, politics and suchlike get most of the headlines but helmets may well be the most important element in the whole sport.

They perform a host of important functions, which we tend to abbreviate to ‘saving lives’ but there is much, much more to an F1 helmet than just preventing blows to the head.

While they do protect against impact, very effectively, they also must resist penetration by sharp objects; they have to withstand high temperatures; they help a driver breathe, take on fluids and communicate; they are an integral part of a car’s aerodynamics; they help (or hinder) a driver’s vision; they must be light; and, of course, they help spectators identify their heroes.

Tailor-made to save lives

Every driver’s helmet is made to measure – both the inside and the outside.

A 3D map of the driver’s head is made and the interior section is designed on a computer to make it as snug a fit as possible.

Then the process of making a helmet by hand gets under way.

The bulk of the helmet is carbon fibre, providing a super-light, super-strong, shell. Sheets of carbon fibre (impregnated with secret chemical compounds) are layered into a mold with epoxy resin and baked for half an hour in a vacuum.

There is also a layer or two of Kevlar – it’s used in bullet-proof armour and provides good protection against sharp things poking a hole in the helmet.

Kevlar, a distant relation of nylon, gets its strength from the way its constituent molecules are arranged in parallel lines, and because of the way its fibres are knitted together in the manufacturing process.

Kevlar’s tensile strength – its ability to deal with stretching and pulling – is about eight times greater than that of steel wire. It doesn’t melt and it doesn’t start to decompose until the temperature gets above 450C.

The carbon-fibre shell is sanded by hand and around a dozen holes are drilled or lasered into it – yes, manufacturers pump holes into these helmets – to allow the finished item to ventilate efficiently.

The inner padding is made of dense, fire-resistant expanded polystyrene foam, molded to the exact dimensions of the driver’s head.

In all, there are about 20 layers of carbon fibre and other materials in an F1 helmet – you’d expect perhaps three layers in an off-the-shelf helmet for road use.

And, while you can pick up a cheap biking helmet for £30 and a pricey carbon fibre one for £2,000, an F1 lid can cost from £5,000 to £20,000.

How strong is strong?

To pass FIA tests, F1 helmets have to survive a battery of brutal tests.

They must resist 500km/h impacts with metal missiles as well as survive crush tests. A certified F1 helmet should be capable of absorbing more energy than is involved in a bullet hit.

And they have to perform well when the heat is on. Helmets are subjected to an 800C flame for 45 seconds and they’ll fail if the internal temperature goes above 70C.

All the materials in an F1 helmet are used with safety, strength and lightness in mind.

As well as the carbon fibre, epoxy resin and Kevlar, there may be Zylon (see below), aluminium, titanium, magnesium, polyethylene, polycarbonate, fire-resistant Nomex and other secret ingredients that mere mortals will never be told about.

And the helmet has to function as part of the HANS head-and-neck protection system that drivers wear on their shoulders.

Despite all this, most helmets weigh only around 1.2kg – that’s important when your neck is trying to support that weight while you corner at 4g…

Air we go

The shape of the helmet’s outside is as important as its inside.

Think about how much effort teams put into tweaking tiny parts of the front wings on a car to extract some aerodynamic benefit – then consider the aero impact of a relatively huge helmet, bobbing around right in the middle of the car.

A lot of wind-tunnel testing is done to make sure that helmets are not only efficient, but that they work in harmony with a particular car.

As well as affecting airflow to the back of the car and the all-important rear wing, a driver’s helmet also affects how much air is funnelled into the airbox.

That’s why F1 helmets have little spoilers and other aerodynamic gadgets attached to them.

Look out…

Compare an F1 helmet and a motorbiking helmet from your local bike shop and you’ll see that the bike lid has a much bigger visor.

F1 drivers don’t have to look around as much as bike riders and so their visors – which are a relatively weak spot – can be smaller.

Having said that, there is more to an F1 visor than a bit of plastic to stop bugs getting in drivers’ eyes.

They’re generally made from 3mm-thick polycarbonate which offers good impact protection and flame resistance too.

A 50mm Zylon strip (Zylon is another synthetic super-material, which is twice as strong as Kevlar) overlaps the top of the visor. This is said to double the visor’s impact resistance.

The visor can be electrically heated to resist fogging and may have a tint that adjusts rapidly to changing light conditions.

To make things even better for the driver, tear-off strips are fitted in front of the visor, and can be discarded when they get covered in dead bugs, oil or any other dirt during a race.

The helmet’s ventilation – all those holes that were drilled in the factory – helps keep the visor clear as well.

In addition, the venting filters brake dust, oil and other impurities from the circuit atmosphere, helping the driver breathe clean air in a less-than-pristine environment.

The helmets also have to accommodate a microphone and … a straw. Drivers can sweat off 3kg during a race, so they have to be able to take on fluids too. A button on the steering wheel pumps drinks through that straw in the helmet.

Look sharp…

Every F1 helmet is hand-painted. In fact, helmet design is big business though, in F1, it’s not been nearly as big since 2015, when motorsports authorities banned drivers from changing their helmet designs during the season.

That will have hurt Sebastian Vettel’s helmet artists – he was famous for changing his helmet designs as often as his socks.

Once the helmet shell is completed, a layer of clear coat (transparent paint) is applied to the carbon fibre surface and the artists can get to work.

There’s generally a lot of airbrushing and a lot of transfer application.

Sometimes, even that is not enough. In 2011, to mark Michael Schumacher’s 20 years in F1, his helmet for the Spa race was coated in gold leaf.

Big names in helmet design have included Jens Munser (Vettel, Schumacher, Alonso, Rosberg, Massa to name just a few customers) and JLF designs (Hamilton, Di Resta).

In fact, Williams test driver and F1 pundit Paul Di Resta’s brother, Stefan, is a helmet designer as well as racing too.

If you want an F1 helmet as a souvenir, best start saving: In 2013, the helmet worn by Vettel when he won that year’s German Grand Prix sold for $118,000. Not bad for a bit of kit that drivers refer to as a brain bucket or a skid lid.