Iwasa on his helmet design and how it was influenced by his grandfather

We take you behind the visor with one of 2021’s rookie drivers, Ayumu Iwasa. The Hitech Grand Prix man discusses the design of his helmet and delves into the backstory of where it all began.

The Japanese racer explains where the helmet design originated from, discusses the influence of his grandfather and tells of his pride at representing the Red Bull Junior Team.

“The helmet before this was designed by my grandfather, and it was completely yellow and blue. This is a different design now, but I really liked the design on the top of the helmet, so I have carried that over and kept it. I first used that design in karting more than 10 years ago.

“There isn’t really any reason for the design on the top. My grandfather told me that he couldn’t find a good design for the top part of the helmet, so the painter came up with an idea and I liked it.

“I really liked yellow when I was younger, so my Grandfather put yellow on my first helmet. I think that blue works well with yellow, which is why that is on there as well. I don’t like to use a coloured visor, just a smokey black one, or if it’s raining, then I use a clear visor.

“I am so happy to be able to have Red Bull on my helmet, plus my design and the Red Bull logo and colours are a good combination – so I’m happy for that.

"My favourite part of the helmet is the smiley face, which came from the painter, who was a friend of my grandfather. I don’t know why the face isn’t a laughing one. This face looks angry – I don’t know why!”