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GALLERY: Have a look at the F1 drivers’ 2023 helmets – including Esteban Ocon's 'dark mode' design
One of the most exciting parts of pre-season is not only seeing the new cars, but also the helmets the drivers will don during the upcoming F1 season. So, ahead of the start of the action, we’ve rounded up the drivers’ fresh helmet designs for 2023…
Esteban Ocon
Ocon sported a white, red and blue helmet for most of last year, but it appears he is switching to the dark side in 2023. Ahead of Alpine’s launch of their new race car, Ocon unveiled his stylish new black helmet with red patterns drawn all over. We can’t wait to see this under the lights in Bahrain.
Yuki Tsunoda
As he enters his third season with AlphaTauri, Tsunoda continues to make use of a white helmet this year. However, the Japanese racer has gone organic for 2023, swapping his orange accents from last year for yellow, red and orange leaves.
Zhou Guanyu
As he enters his sophomore campaign in Formula 1, Zhou has given fans a first look at his new purple and yellow lid. On the back you will notice a tribute to his home city of Shanghai and a rabbit – as it's the year of the rabbit on the Chinese calendar.
Valtteri Bottas
The Finn will be rocking an all-new colourway of black, blue and white on his helmet this year – the latter two colours being those of his home country Finland. Bottas admits his new design is not too dissimilar to last year, but describes this year's helmet as being "a bit more mean".
Max Verstappen
Now a two-time champion, Verstappen says he's gone "back to my roots" with his brand-new helmet design. Mostly white, this one really does exude retro charm with the stripes on the side and two stars on the back. But the lion motif still roars from the top.
GALLERY: Verstappen goes 'old school' with new helmet for 2023
Sergio Perez
Entering his third season as a Red Bull driver, Perez is another to make a change to the design and colourway of his new helmet. The four-time race winner's new helmet is painted in yellow all over, and features the Mexican flag at the top, with an added motivational message on the back.
Logan Sargeant
Sargeant unveiled the helmet that he will be racing with in his rookie season immediately after Williams' launch of their 2023 challenger, the FW45. It is painted in Williams’ traditional blue and white, and also features the American flag on the side.
Alex Albon
Like his new Williams team mate, Albon has also gone for a matching navy blue design this year, and the Thai racer has opted to splash some eye-catching red decorations all around his helmet.
Fernando Alonso
Ahead of his first season as an Aston Martin driver, Alonso has unveiled the helmet that he will be racing with in 2023, and it looks similar to the lid he wore when he won his second championship in 2006. It is painted both dark and light blue, as well as yellow, with all three colours joined by a dash of Spanish red on the back and sides.
Charles Leclerc
Once again this season, Leclerc will be in an all-red car, will be wearing an all-red race suit, and will also be wearing an all-red helmet. It also has his race number displayed very clearly on the side, and a white line through the middle as a reminder of his Monegasque roots.
George Russell
Russell opted to change from a red to a sky blue helmet when he joined Mercedes on a permanent basis last season. And the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix winner continues with that same colourway in 2023, but with some minor design changes.
Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton continues to race with a yellow helmet for the second season in a row, after returning to the colour last year for the first time since 2013. He has slightly altered the design this year by painting in some purple, having previously raced in an all-purple helmet in 2020 and 2021. So, this year he combines two of his most iconic colours to make for one striking new helmet.
Carlos Sainz
This season will be Sainz's third driving for the Scuderia, and like his team mate Leclerc, his new helmet is painted mostly in Ferrari red. However, Sainz has chosen to pair that red with some yellow on the back, a nod to his home country Spain.
Pierre Gasly
Gasly is entering his maiden campaign as an Alpine driver and to commemorate that, the 2020 Italian Grand Prix winner will be sporting an all-new lid this year. His new helmet is painted burgundy on the front and metallic gold at the top and on the back, with the French flag running through the middle.
Nico Hulkenberg
Hulkenberg is back for 2023 and he's brought a stunning new design with him. The Haas driver has opted for a white helmet covered in an orange spray motif, his 'Hulk' nickname clearly visible on the side.
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