F1 drivers love to sport new innovative designs on their helmets. Recently, Lando Norris had the Hungarian GP porcelain trophy design on his helmet for the weekend in Budapest. Now, Charles Leclerc resorted to the use of AI for creating a new helmet design and was quite impressed with the ease of the process.
Leclerc got together with Tom Shaw, a software developer, who helped the Ferrari driver create a helmet design using a generative AI tool, per Shaw’s recent YouTube video. However, the clip started with Leclerc revealing his top three helmet picks of all time.
When asked by Shaw to reveal his favorite helmet, Leclerc first picked his father, Herve Leclerc’s helmet design because it was simple and old school. He then picked the iconic helmet design of Ayrton Senna with the glorious Brazilian flag colors.
Charles’s Monaco helmet ⚪️ Both Leclerc brothers racing on the streets of Monaco with a helmet inspired by their father’s design was incredibly touching but even more so the money raised since in the auction for Emilia-Romagna was a wonderful donation. pic.twitter.com/8eSENAPX8P
— Ro (@racingwithro) June 9, 2023
For his final design, the Monegasque picked one of his own — the helmet he wore in Monaco last year. It had a sharp look with Ferrari red and a mix of white with a design pattern of his father’s helmet.
Then, Shaw showed Leclerc the tool that they were going to use to design the helmet and explained that he only had to describe the design he wanted in words and the tool would do the rest.
Leclerc’s design prompt was, “I want a retro design with the main colors as red and white, with a small touch of baby blue. And add the number 16 wherever you want”.
Speaking of baby blue, Leclerc mentioned how it is his favorite color but he has never used it in his helmet design before. The 26-year-old then said that he will start using it from the next season and the tool might give him good inspiration for next year’s helmet.
Leclerc’s helmets take four to five months for completion
Shaw asked about the design process of Leclerc’s helmets and how long it usually takes for one helmet. Leclerc revealed that he works closely with renowned motorsport designer Adrien Paviot for the ideation and design and BS Designs for the helmet’s painting.
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Surprisingly, Leclerc revealed that his helmets take somewhere between four to five months to go from the first idea to a finished product. The Ferrari driver has to consult with his team to ensure everyone including the sponsors is aligned with the idea behind the helmet design.
As far as the design process itself, Leclerc mentioned it takes about a week to finalize the same.
