Kamui Kobayashi and Vitantonio Liuzzi will wear special one-off helmets for the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend.
Kobayashi’s design is inspired by American band Linkin Park, with whom the Sauber driver met in Singapore.
The helmet will be auctioned off to support aid for Japan through the internationally renowned charity organisation Music for Relief, initiated by Linkin Park.
Since 2005, Music for Relief has raised more than five million US dollars for disaster victims and environmental projects. Of this, 700,000 dollars alone has been donated to Japan to help it deal with the consequences of the disasters that struck on 11th March this year.
Joe Hahn, producer and band member of Linkin Park, personally designed the unique helmet for Kamui Kobayashi. As the Japanese driver explains: “I’ve long been a fan of Linkin Park. I love their music and I’m impressed by the band’s social commitment. I was thrilled to meet the musicians personally in the paddock when they were giving a concert at the Singapore Grand Prix.
“We’ve been in touch since then and I’m really pleased that Joe Hahn has designed a helmet for me. I hope that we will be able to raise a lot of money for Music for Relief to help rebuild my country.”
Liuzzi will wear a helmet designed by himself. The all-black helmet will act as a chalkboard, allowing the Hispania driver to drawn whatever he wants onto the surface. The final design will be revealed on Friday.
“When Lucky (Gianluca Croci) told me his idea for this last special edition, I loved it,” said the Italian. “The possibility of customising your helmet how you want is something that has never been seen before in Formula 1 and something that I thought was quite fun to finish the season off.
“I had no idea what it would look like… Today I saw the base for the first time and I love it. I just feel bad about ruining it with my drawings!”
Rubens Barrichello will also sport a new design in the style of Ayrton Senna’s helmet.
Discussion about this post