A special family touch: Mari Boya on the story behind his helmet design

5 May 2023

There’s no doubt about it, MP Motorsport’s Mari Boya certainly stands out from the crowd in his vibrant helmet design. Sticking to a design that fits his personality, the Spanish racer has brought his eye-catching look with him up through the ranks to the 2023 Formula 3 grid.

Giving us the backstory behind his helmet design, Boya explains why if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it and how he’s keeping his family and a home hero Formula 1 Champion with him whilst racing.

“My helmet design has been quite similar since I started racing. I think it’s a really personal thing, so I don’t like to change the design too much. It’s something that belongs to me, and I always try to keep the same design and just make little changes.

“I think the colours are really bright, I’ve always liked to use green, yellow and orange. Green is my favourite colour, so I think it looks really good and I really like it. When I was younger, the painter showed me a few different designs and I really liked this black, similar to Lewis Hamilton’s to be honest, but I didn’t do that design because it was his. Now I just make little changes. I like these little gold things a lot, which make it really good.

“To be honest, if I showed you my first helmet and then this one, you’d know it’s my helmet. Maybe now it’s a bit more aggressive with some more lines and a bit more gold, but the changes are very small. When I was younger, I wasn’t using all the logos and the team I was working with, but now I’m used to putting them all on the helmet.

“On the sides, I’ve always had pictures with my mum which I think is really special alongside the team’s logo, our family’s logo and some sponsors and teams which I am working with. Then I’ve got my logo and, on the back, my Instagram and all the social media accounts.

“I’m in motorsports thanks to my mum. My passion comes especially from her, and I really like to have her on my helmet. Also, on the side of the helmet you can see a picture of her with Fernando Alonso, she really liked coming to see the races and everything, so I think it’s really special. That’s for sure my favourite part, it makes it really my own!

“The company made my logo design. They showed me a few designs and I really liked this one. It’s quite simple and looks really good, so I really like it. Also, my helmets are designed by Aerodiseño from Valencia, I have his logo on the side near my visor.

“In the future, I don’t have any plans to change my design. Maybe I might change the colours with the same design and have two helmets in opposite colours or something like that would be interesting, but I really like this one. “