The story behind Schumacher’s helmet design

We take you behind the visor with Trident racer David Schumacher, who discusses the design of his helmet and delves into the backstory of where it all began.

The German winds back to a quirky first design and then looks at how it has progressed over the years, including the addition of a Schumacher family tradition.

“My first helmet was also neon green,” recalled Schumacher. “The green was a little darker, with a shiny glitter blue in there also. On the back, I had a small animal sitting on a rocket, which was quite fun. I still have the helmet at home, it's nice!

“The first design like this one was done in my first year of karting, and yes, I did lose the animal and the rocket. Overall, it was pretty similar to my current design, primarily yellow and green. I really like the green, it is my favourite colour. The addition of the yellow makes it even brighter and more visible. I think the colours work well together.

“From there, the design has kept developing and I have changed and improved on small details. I made it together with my helmet designer. I will go to him with some small details which I want on the helmet, and then he will go away and come up with a design. From there, we develop those designs and I make a few changes. I have previously worked with Five Star designs, but now I am with JMD.

“I would say that the key element of the helmet is the stars on the top, which my father, my uncle and Mick all have as well. I think it was Michael who had the stars first, and my dad then added six stars to the top of his helmet, which was relating to his six victories in Formula 1. It has become a tradition in our family, and I wanted to continue that, plus, I think that they look great.

“I always have my racing number on the back. I try and use the 27 when I can, which is my favourite number. I have got my name on there as well, although it is quite small. I did not want to have it overly visible, I wanted it to be subtle and I think we’ve achieved that.”