Heikki Kovalainen has changed his helmet design on the eve of the 2012 season.
Kovalainen’s new helmet carries the branding of hit mobile game Angry Birds:
See here for a guide to all the other drivers’ helmet designs for 2012:
2012 Australian Grand Prix
Browse all 2012 Australian Grand Prix articles
Image © Caterham/LAT
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
15th March 2012, 6:26
Appropriate, given that the car looks like this.
Julian (@julian)
15th March 2012, 6:41
or this
(i hope this works)
scribbler (@scribbler)
15th March 2012, 8:31
More like this
zero. (@zero)
15th March 2012, 13:09
lol, you guys just made my day. helmet approved!
Aldoid
15th March 2012, 6:29
Lol! I like it… fun design.
SimBri (@f1addict)
15th March 2012, 6:31
Nooooooooo, Heikki’s was one of the best! I really wish helmet sponsorship wasn’t allowed.
Julian (@julian)
15th March 2012, 6:43
looking past the whole sponsorship thing, i actually like it.. its pretty neat
PT (@pt)
15th March 2012, 10:27
This is just spectacular! It goes well with the Arai design and is aggressive enough to appear striking. This is 10,000 times better than his regular green and white livery which for me was hardly exciting.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
15th March 2012, 6:51
@f1addict – I don’t think this is sponsorship. I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that Kovalainen is a massive Angry Birds fan. The CNN, GE and Renault decals are all advertising, of course, but the concept of the helmet design isn’t.
Erkki Hamalainen
15th March 2012, 8:02
Of course it’s sponsorship, as confirmed by Kovalainen in an interview. No way a team would allow that kind of exposure in F1 without money. But it’s true that Heikki is also a fan of Angry Birds.
Joey-Poey (@joey-poey)
15th March 2012, 14:16
Didn’t it originate in his home country, too? I mean, I can excuse the sponsorship because I’m sure there’s some national pride in there as well.
Tengkurex
15th March 2012, 7:26
I think it’s sponsored by Rovio
Estesark (@estesark)
15th March 2012, 14:02
Rovio are a Finnish company, Heikki is a Finnish driver – that probably goes some way to explaining this deal :)
Estesark (@estesark)
15th March 2012, 15:11
Turun Sanomat are reporting that Kimi has some kind of Angry Birds tie-in as well.
Partial translation: “Kimi’s cap features the logo of the new Angry Birds Space game … we’ll know more about Räikkönen’s cooperation with Angry Birds once the new game has been formally presented”
BasCB (@bascb)
15th March 2012, 6:33
While I really like drivers to rather have a good design and only change it minimally over the years, this design is really nice and I hope he sticks with it for a long time.
bosyber (@bosyber)
15th March 2012, 6:36
I fully agree with everything you just said @bascb. His previous design was a bit too cluttered for me, though I liked the striking green. This helmet is a better design to show on camera (ie. from a distance away).
mias
15th March 2012, 6:36
In fact Kimi’s got one Angry Bird
ietoo.andae23 (@andae23)
15th March 2012, 6:46
AWESOME!!!
racelitze (@racelitze)
15th March 2012, 6:46
Since tracktion control was banned teams getting used to the new slingshot start procedure…
dam00r (@dam00r)
16th March 2012, 0:43
@racelitze hahaha!
xjr15jaaag (@xjr15jaaag)
15th March 2012, 6:48
That is gorgeous!!!!
BROOKSY007 (@brooksy007)
15th March 2012, 7:05
Its fun!! Sure he isn’t working for LOONEY TUNES cartoons!! Lol
Alonso could have the Roadrunner
and massa the Coyote on his helmet!!!
Jo (@musicwordsthoughts)
15th March 2012, 7:29
Oh goodness this is gold!
Victor_RO (@victor_ro)
15th March 2012, 9:03
Too late, Alex Zanardi already claimed the Roadrunner for his own helmet about 15 years ago. :)
Gagnon (@johnniewalker)
15th March 2012, 16:14
@brooksy007 +1 COTD here for me =D
Mike (@mike)
15th March 2012, 7:08
Great helmet! :D
Unless he crashes at the start in Melbourne… then… then he won’t live it down.
John H (@john-h)
15th March 2012, 10:03
My thoughts entirely. Setting himself up for a meeting with the barriers somewhat!
MahavirShah (@mahavirshah)
15th March 2012, 7:13
Awesome design. The font which spells out Heikki is really nice and the overall design is fantastic as well. Also like the way his number is printed at the back.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
15th March 2012, 7:14
That’s absolutely brilliant! Love it!
TED BELL
15th March 2012, 17:05
How do you say it….”what rubish”…
Helmet livery has become ridiculous and with all the stripes, swooshes, multiple colors and sponsor logos all add up to making it difficult to recognise a driver at speed. Then at the next race he has a new livery….
Gone are the days when your helmet was your trademark. In the car, on the track or in the paddock you new who the driver was and there was no mistaking it.
Today drivers change them so often that it has indeed become next to impossible knowing who is who.
Everyone on earth knows Jackie Stewart by his trademark helmet.
Can’t be said its like that anymore.
J
15th March 2012, 19:24
How do you say it…”miserable”…
sesku (@sesku)
16th March 2012, 1:02
we not in 1970 anymore.
Jo (@musicwordsthoughts)
15th March 2012, 7:30
Loving Heikki’s new helmet :D It totally suits him!
(Still miss the green though)
JCost (@jcost)
15th March 2012, 7:41
I love it! Where can I get a 1:2 scale?
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
15th March 2012, 7:50
Um, it’s ony just been unveiled for this weekend. I doubt anyone has had the idea of making a scaled version of it yet, much less making them available for sale.
JCost (@jcost)
15th March 2012, 13:49
Too bad, I fear you’re right.
TED BELL
15th March 2012, 17:08
Twice the size of normal??? Why would you want it so big??
dam00r (@dam00r)
16th March 2012, 0:45
It’s half the normal size.
Mads (@mads)
15th March 2012, 7:56
I love that helmet! That is probably the best looking helmet I have ever seen.
PieLighter (@pielighter)
15th March 2012, 7:56
This is just the most awesome thing ever. XD
FullSpe3d (@dryyoshi)
15th March 2012, 8:12
I like it as well, shame the old design is gone though as I thought it was one of the best on the grid :(
spacák (@spacak)
15th March 2012, 8:12
It would be good, without Heikki writing and the bird on forehead.
jsw11984 (@jarred-walmsley)
15th March 2012, 9:14
you mean without everything that actually makes it awesome?
spacák (@spacak)
15th March 2012, 11:58
Mainly letters are too big, look ridiculous, like barking dog seldom bite.
JLuiggi (@joyu12)
15th March 2012, 8:15
Sooo, are the other midfield teams the pigs then and Heikky the angry bird?
McLarenFanJamm (@mclarenfanjamm)
15th March 2012, 9:15
This is now definitely my favourite helmet of 2012.
jimi
15th March 2012, 9:41
See the sensational polish blog about Robert Kubica. Excellent news.
http://mikemojaformula1pl.blogspot.com
Translator read
stars
15th March 2012, 9:45
excellent !! go Kubika go
moshbeard (@moshbeard)
15th March 2012, 10:10
I don’t mind the fact it’s advertising, this is probably my favourite helmet this year.
CarolinaBlue704 (@carolinablue704)
15th March 2012, 10:10
Looks great in my opinion.
Gibo is driving (@)
15th March 2012, 10:15
Changed already?!.. Vettel must be upset..
choiMatthew
15th March 2012, 10:18
Does that mean Heikki will crash into something frequently this year?
James Brickles (@brickles)
15th March 2012, 10:28
Vitaly Petrov’s helmet will probably be the green ‘boomerang’ bird because it’s a very difficult bird to control ;)
sumedh
15th March 2012, 10:46
So whoever Heikki hits on the track, does that person use a pig helmet?
Guelph (@guelph)
15th March 2012, 12:32
He should have used the yellow bird that speeds up mid-flight
Chris Goldsmith
15th March 2012, 12:51
This is ace, I really like it. I think it really suits Heikki as well. I wonder if they’ll change it for the other coloured birds during the season.
Rob Wilson (@rob-wilson)
15th March 2012, 12:51
I love it but the only problem for me is that ive collected all the 1:43 scale diecast f1 models from the 2010 and/or 2011 season and i arrange them in order of their starting position during a live qualifying session so i have a mini version of what the grid will look like before anybody else.. And anyway in my collection Heikki’s helmet obviously green which will upset the reality of my grid which is only slightly annoying because this will be the only thing that won’t be correct in terms on colour co-ordination..for example i have broken petrov’s head off the old renault and trulli’s off the team lotus car and glued petrov’s helmet in the caterham. This sounds psychotic, plus these models vary from £40 to £60 a piece and i’m breaking pieces off, but importantly to me, it looks more accurate to real life. Heikki with a bright red helmet this weekend will niggle me! but ahh well! xD
But yeah, i think it looks great! :D
verstappen (@verstappen)
15th March 2012, 13:32
Apart from a COTD we should have a Fanatic of the day/week/month.
You @Rob-Wilson deserve to be it! I love your story, especially having to break off Petrov’s head for budget reasons…
OT: I’m not into cartoonesque fashion statements. I hate bugs bunny socks or tweety sun screens for car-windows. This helmet fits right into that league.
Joey-Poey (@joey-poey)
15th March 2012, 14:17
As a big angry birds fan, this makes me SO HAPPY :D
zimkazimka (@zimkazimka)
15th March 2012, 14:41
i imagine commentators will have a field day the moment kova crashes into something.
Fisha695 (@fisha695)
15th March 2012, 15:25
Am I the only one that doesn’t understand the infatuation with this game? I played the Google Chrome version and it was boring and way to easy to be even considered a fun game IMHO. I like the name on the side of the helmet but get rid of the ugly bird face and then it’ll be a nice lid.
Kirill (@)
15th March 2012, 15:40
It’s fun, but it looks more like hockey goalkeeper’s helmet. I like his previous design, it was really cool, IMO
strunk27 (@strunk27)
15th March 2012, 15:45
My girlfriend who shows no interest in formula 1 loved this helmet when I showed her.
It’s a pretty cool one-off helmet. I love the font
Pamphlet (@pamphlet)
15th March 2012, 16:25
Best helmet design on the grid at the moment. Love it.
Hollis Graham (@)
15th March 2012, 16:31
This is awesome. I love helmets that contrast with the cars colours.
Top five: Senna, Massa, Heikki, Fernando and Schumacher (I know it’s just red but with the Merc it looks awesome!)
George (@george)
15th March 2012, 17:39
Meh, I thought green suited Heikki. The big cartoon eyes make me think of NASCAR :/
Fixy (@)
15th March 2012, 20:54
This helmet is really good, although I liked his previous helmet which was distinctive of Heikki. This helmet is very distincive as well but has less to do with the driver, which is somewhat a pity. But it’s great!
PaulK (@paulk)
16th March 2012, 1:16
There’s already lots of posts, but I must let it registered.
Great Helmet. Perfect.
Chris Goldsmith
16th March 2012, 7:20
Seeing it in action in FP this morning, it looks even better in the car. literally looks like the car is being driven by the red bird, it’s hilarious.