It’s one of the most unique-looking crash helmets on the grid, so we quizzed Charlie Wurz on the thinking behind the design of his 2025 lid.
From the obvious inspiration to the finer details and unknown facts about the design process, the TRIDENT driver revealed all about his stand-out design.
“I designed something very similar when I first started karting. I was having dinner with my family and I’d been spending a lot of time designing something and this is what I came up with. I had a really bad initial idea and wasn’t quite happy with that but then this one seems ok.
“We started from there, fine-tuned some things but the base is similar to what my dad used in the past. I like that and I think it’s quite unique, but there’s my own style to it. For me, everyone has a similar helmet on the grid. But this is quite different.
“It’s the only thing a driver can control really, show their personality and that’s with the helmet. The cool thing is my dad painted this helmet. We use the bathroom in the apartment for like a month.
“He started painting his own helmets because he didn’t like how his came out and so was quite specific about it. So I want to start learning how to paint mine. I did the blue bits on this one, the one thing I couldn’t mess up. You must be careful not to add too much paint because that’s weight, so too much paint and suddenly you aren’t on it.
“I’ve added my initials to it and added the British flag to the top, and that’s for my mum. Everything about me is Austrian, I race under an Austrian licence, so I thought I’d do something for her, so that’s why that’s there. Plus, it looks quite cool which is a bonus.
“All the rest – there’s not much more to say. I like the pink on this one. I’ve moved the ‘W’ to the front, I used to have it at the back, but I think it’s nicer on the front. I think it used to be in red, and the ‘C’ was as well. The pink makes it stand out much more now, and it’s a bit more metallic now, which makes it stand out better.
“I think a few of the finer details like having the white on the ‘W’ contrasts with the black. Since I’ve had the same helmet design for a while, it’s about fine-tuning the details now, but it’s stayed very similar.
“I started out with Bell, they were with my dad and were very helpful and from there, they’ve helped me out and it’s been great to have their support in my career. Whenever I’ve needed a helmet, they’ve been able to provide one. They look cool as well so it’s really nice.
“I could lie and pretend I remember what my dad said when I asked him for this design, but I was like eight years old, so I can’t remember. My brother used to run one like this, but he doesn’t like the style, so now he gets his designed by someone else. Didn’t follow the family trend!
“But I think dad likes that I run it. It’s his style so if it was anything else, he’d struggle to paint it. But this is always unique.”