Helmet
Schumacher, in conjunction with Schuberth, helped develop the first lightweight carbon helmet. In 2004, a prototype was publicly tested by being driven over by a tank; it survived intact. The helmet keeps the driver cool by funneling directed airflow through fifty holes.
Schumacher's original helmet sported the colours of the German flag and his sponsor's decals. On the top was a blue circle with white astroids. When Jos Verstappen was his team-mate, Schumacher added 4 red diagonal strokes over the visor to differentiate his helmet from his team-mate. After Schumacher joined Ferrari a prancing horse was added on the back. From the 2000 Monaco Grand Prix, in order to differentiate his colours from new teammate Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher changed the upper blue colour and some of the white areas to red.Since 2004, the helmet sported a white diagonal line with a white vertical line in the zone of the German Flag colors (originally to accommodate sponsor AMD), but then these lines remained in the Suzuka 2006 design. He sported one-off helmet designs four times. For the 1998 Japanese Grand Prix, a title decider with Mika Häkkinen, he replaced the German flag with a chequered flag motif and reflective silver replacing the white areas. At the 2004 Italian Grand Prix the German flag design was replaced with an Italian flag in honour of his team's home race. For the Brazilian Grand Prix race of 2006 (at the time intended to be his final Grand Prix), he wore an all-red helmet that included the names of his ninety-one Grand Prix victories. For the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix, Schumacher's 20th anniversary in Formula One, he wore a commemorative gold-leafed helmet. The helmet, very similar to his current helmet, included the year of his début to the present, and the years of his seven world titles. For the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix, Schumacher's 300th Grand Prix appearance he wore a special platinum-leafed helmet with a message of his achievement.
Read more about this topic: Michael Schumacher
Famous quotes containing the word helmet:
“She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces through the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She looked down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror cracked from side to side;
“The curse is come upon me,” cried
The Lady of Shalott.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them.”
—Bible: Hebrew, 1 Samuel 17:38-39.
Saul was very tall.
“It’s very hot,
And weighs a lot,
As many a guardsman knows,
So off that helmet goes.”
—Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836–1911)