Despite Spending 8 Years at Red Bull, Max Verstappen Finally Pushes Through His Extraordinary Demand

Max Verstappen has unveiled a new helmet for him ahead of the 2023 Italian Grand Prix. Even though this might not be special to many, for Verstappen it is very important. This is because the Dutch driver finally managed to convince Red Bull to accept his extraordinary demand after spending 8 years with the team, as per a report by GP Blog.

Verstappen has introduced a new retro helmet for himself ahead of the Monza race. With the helmet’s livery, he wanted to bring up the early days when his father was racing, ad how he started his journey with go-karts.

In the design, the two-time world champion introduced a bit of a change in the front end. There is a prominent ‘v’ structure on the lower front. This made the Red Bull logo go sideways, with which there have been some very noticeable changes to the helmet, as seen during FP2 and qualifying on Saturday in Monza.

Max Verstappen finally managed to convince Red Bull

Usually, Red Bull designs the helmets for all their drivers at first and then allows them to customize it some extent. This time, however, Verstappen was very vocal about having his own identity with the design.

Admittedly, all racing drivers have their own unique helmet design, which sets them apart on the grid. For example, Valentino Rossi, a MotoGP legend, used a distinct neon color  to design his helmets, which is why Lewis Hamilton didn’t use the color before. This way, Max Verstappen also got on the bandwagon of making his own identity through his helmet.

Talking about this, the defending champion said, “When I signed with Red Bull you lose a lot of your own design. So it took a while to push this through, but this is of course the moment you are really happy with.” Following this, he added, “Ultimately I was able to put in quite a few things that I used to have, so I’m happy with that.”

Verstappen and the inspiration behind his new helmet

Max Verstappen recently revealed that his new helmet design has been an inspiration from his father Jos Verstappen. Admittedly, Verstappen Sr. raced with a white, red, and blue colored helmet during his racing days.

The Red Bull driver incorporated the same design during his karting days and therefore, brought it all back to F1 ahead of the Monza race. Through this, the 25-year-old wants his own representation to be highlighted in the helmet.

It took about three months for the two-time world champion to get the helmet he wanted. According to Flowracers, it takes around $4000 to $6000 to make a helmet like Verstappen’s, depending on the material and livery used.