Nine special helmets at the 2026 United States Grand Prix

Nine drivers from six teams brought special helmets to Circuit of the Americas for round 18 of the 2026 season; all nine are listed on the race page. Two of them were worn in first practice: Williams put Alexander Albon in a silver Thor helmet and Carlos Sainz in a Captain America helmet with a large white star, each with a matching one-off Marvel race suit, as part of the team’s collaboration with Marvel to promote the film Avengers: Doomsday.

Max Verstappen’s was revealed on 15 October, a week before the next dated reveal: his lion logo wears a Texan cowboy hat on a shell worked in the red, white and blue of the American flag. Both McLaren designs appeared on Instagram on 22 October. Lando Norris’s iridescent silver helmet, with tone-on-tone swirls, a gold number 1 on the crown and a Gemini star on the side, was worked out with designer Kaylum Robinson and creative director Ashley Bibby, previewed with Google Gemini and then painted and masked by hand by Jens Munser Designs. Oscar Piastri’s shell is drawn as the magnified surface of a computer chip, with an Intel processor on the crown and the number 81 at the back.

Both Ferrari helmets appeared on 23 October. Lewis Hamilton’s is a space scene on deep navy and black, with rows of sketched stars along the sides and a handwritten formula on the lower side; Scuderia Ferrari HP posted the photos. Charles Leclerc keeps his red and white scheme and adds a fine network of black lines across the white upper shell, with a red circular element reading “Austin TX”; the Ferrari Store lists it as a special edition replica.

Two designs carry a story beyond the race. Franco Colapinto’s helmet, by Andy Werner, follows the colours of Carlos Reutemann with a Boca Juniors touch and a nod to Diego Maradona, and carries the Sol de Mayo and the number 43. Oliver Bearman’s Godzilla helmet, dark blue and black over white with electric-blue lightning, matches the Godzilla Minus Zero livery Haas ran at its home race; Team OB shared it with the caption “GODZILLA MODE”.

Three replicas are listed so far: Leclerc at the Ferrari Store, Norris and Piastri at 123helmets. As of 25 October, none of the nine entries has a photo attached.

Sources: Williams F1 Team, “Assemble! Alex and Carlos bring a Super Hero style to FP1”; GPblog, “Verstappen onthult speciale helm voor de Grand Prix van Amerika”; McLaren Racing, “United States Grand Prix 2026” (Lando and Oscar’s Special Edition US GP Lids); Scuderia Ferrari HP on X, “A closer look at Lewis’ Austin helmet” (23 Oct 2026); ScuderiaFans, “Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc showcases unique helmet for 2026 F1 Austin race” (23 Oct 2026); Uno Santa Fe, “El casco de Colapinto para Austin” (23 Oct 2026); Haas F1 Team, “United States Grand Prix: Race Preview” (19 Oct 2026); 123helmets, Norris, Piastri, Hamilton and Bearman write-ups (Oct 2026). Every source is linked from the helmet pages.

This recap was drafted from the archive’s own sourced entries with AI assistance. Spotted a mistake? Use the Report a mistake link on the helmet page.