McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris will sport new helmets at this weekend’s Eifel Grand Prix in recognition of World Mental Health Day.
The helmets were created by the drivers using special paints, with the designs then homologated into race-standard crash helmets.
The Woking-based squad says the new helmets are just “one of a number of initiatives by McLaren to shine a spotlight on mental health”.
The helmets aim to raise awareness over the team’s charity partner ‘Mind’ and Formula 1’s #WeRaceAsOne campaign.
McLaren is aiming to “raise vital funds for Mind to support the invaluable work the charity is doing to tackle the mental health crisis.”
After the launch of the new liveries, Norris commented that he hoped the initiative “will give one person out there the confidence to chat to their family, friends or whoever they feel confident doing so”.
The original helmet designs were entered into a prize draw in which fans donated a minimum of £5 donation to Mind, which resulted in the fundraising of £70,250.
McLaren also confirmed that since it struck up a partnership with Mind in July, it has raised over £190,000 through donations from fans and team members.
McLaren and Mind will team up once again to organise a prize draw on November 29, in which the winner will receive the drivers’ race-worn helmets.
Fans will enter via a donation, with more information on the prize draw to be made available in the future.
