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Lewis Hamilton says he incorporated yellow neon into his helmet design after Valentino Rossi’s retirement, and added he feels “proud to kind of carry on the baton for him”.
Nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing champion Valentino Rossi has been famous for using a neon yellow helmet throughout his career.
Since the Italian’s retirement, Lewis Hamilton has started using a similar colour scheme on his helmet, and now he explains he did have Rossi in mind while designing it.
“Since then [childhood], I tried to incorporate that original [helmet] design, every year,” Lewis told Sky Sports F1
“So I started to work with this amazing designer in Brazil. So I’ve been to white, I’ve been white and red for a period of time, it was yellow long time ago.
”Then I went to purple and black in 2020. And then… I didn’t want to bring neon into my design because Valentino Rossi kind of owned the neon and then he retired and I was like ok, now is my moment. I can now grab it.
”And so I brought it into our design last year and I love it. I kind of feel proud to kind of carry on the baton for him, maybe, I don’t know!”
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Lewis also told a story of how he decided to trade his brand new Playstation for a new racing helmet when he was a kid.
“I got my first helmet when I was eight and it was called an FM, it was red.
“You know all the other cool kids had an Arai helmet and that’s what all the cool kids had, it was like having cool kicks, and that was my dream as a kid.
“So eventually my Dad saved up, my Dad and my step-Mum and my Mum got money together and bought me a Playstation for Christmas, but I was like I want a new helmet!
“They said we can’t afford to get you both, so we took the Playstation back and I got a new helmet,” the Briton concluded.
The two drivers have been involved in a ‘ride swap’ back in 2019, and you can watch it here.
