Leclerc, Norris and Gasly among nine drivers with special US GP helmets

An array of new helmet designs have appeared at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.

Almost half the drivers are wearing different designs to their usual at the Circuit of the Americas.

Here is a detailed look at the one-off helmet designs some drivers have opted for.

Charles Leclerc is wearing a green helmet inspired by an American Football field, with ‘touchdown at Austin’ written across the top. It is to mark this weekend’s race being in the USA.

It’s also Leclerc’s 100th grand prix as a Ferrari driver. But the pole-winner admitted he “forgot this was my 100th GP weekend with Ferrari, so this special helmet design doesn’t make sense.”

“But it’s beautiful,” he added. “Look at that green.”

Leclerc’s team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr is showcasing the colours of the American flag. Wearing a helmet coated in red, white and blue adorned with stars, the Ferrari driver will be hoping it brings him more luck than the most recent Qatar Grand Prix as a fuel leak prevented him from starting.

This season marks 50 years since the death of Francois Cevert. The former Tyrrell driver died in a high-speed crash at Watkins Glen in the 1973 United States Grand Prix, which was the site of his only Formula 1 race win two years prior.

Gasly will be wearing a helmet design that is almost identical to the one that his fellow Frenchman wore in F1. He is not the first F1 driver to have done so, as Jean-Eric Vergne wore a Cevert-inspired helmet at the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix.

The Alpine driver presented his lid to Cevert’s former team mate Jackie Stewart, who called time on his career one race early in the wake of the fatal crash 50 years ago:

Lando Norris is celebrating his 100th race in Formula 1 this weekend and unlike Charles Leclerc, he has not overlooked the anniversary.

The McLaren driver, who has competed all of his races in papaya, is wearing a one-off helmet to mark the anniversary which has been styled as if it he’s added a sticker to it for every race.

The Lone Star State is famous for its history with cowboys and that is something Zhou Guanyu is deciding to celebrate in the same way Lance Stroll did last year, wearing a helmet that features the colours of a leather cowboy hat.

Route 66 is a famous landmark in America. Starting in California, it is a road that goes through northern Texas before ending in Illinois. Kevin Magnussen, who drives for American team Haas, is wearing a Route 66 themed helmet at Circuit of The Americas.

Both Haas drivers will be wearing one-off helmets this weekend to mark their team’s home race. Nico Hulkenberg has opted for an approach more similar to Sainz, but will wear a bolder version of the American flag.

Still using a base of red, white and blue, Hulkenberg’s helmet also features many stars and ‘Hulk’, as well as his car number ’27’, written across in bold, silver text.

Daniel Ricciardo has returned from his absence due to injury and has a special helmet paying tribute to the local college football team, the Texas Longhorns college football team, who play in orange. The back of Ricciardo’s helmet feature his familiar honey badger in a full Longhorns strip.

“They’re having a great season as well, five-one at the moment,” said Ricciardo. “Let’s keep it going and I’ll do my best to represent on track.”

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