Rafael Câmara helmet: the red design with Senna's logo he brings to Haas

Rafael Câmara (often written Camara in English-language coverage) will make his Formula 1 debut at his home race. Haas said on 3 November that the 21-year-old from Recife takes Esteban Ocon’s car at the São Paulo Grand Prix this weekend, partnering Oliver Bearman. On 15 October Haas had announced him as Ocon’s replacement for 2027 on a multi-year deal; Ryo Hirakawa, who stood in for Ocon in Mexico City, is committed to Toyota at the WEC finale in Monza on the same weekend. Lance! reports he will also drive at Las Vegas, and otherwise stays in Formula 2, which he leads with Invicta Racing.

Câmara is a Ferrari Driver Academy member. He won the Formula Regional European Championship with Prema in 2024 and the FIA Formula 3 title with Trident in 2025, in his only season in the category. He will be the 34th Brazilian to start a Grand Prix, and with Gabriel Bortoleto at Audi it puts two Brazilians on the grid for the first time since Felipe Massa and Felipe Nasr in 2016.

The design

Câmara talked through his 2025 helmet for the F3 series website, and it is now in the archive as his F3 2025 season design. “A lot of red, and I added a bit of the Brazilian flag,” he said. The flag sits over the number 5 on the top, which had been plain red the year before. A wing runs along the side, Ferrari branding sits on the forehead, and on the back is the Senna logo next to his own RC initials. “I always have the Senna logo with my helmet, I’m a very big Senna fan.”

The layout is old. “Since I was 12, I have basically used the same design, but just changed the colours a bit,” he said; his first helmet had an R on the side in blue, green and white. The shell comes from Bell and the paint from Velo. He said he wanted more of the Brazilian flag’s colours on the next version and added: “Maybe one day, I will come back with green, yellow, and blue.”

Neither Câmara nor Haas had shown a helmet for Interlagos by 4 November, and we found no published description of his 2026 Formula 2 design, so we cannot yet say whether he races the F3 helmet, an update or a home-race special on Sunday. His entries will be added once the design is published.

The company he joins

Green, yellow and blue at Interlagos is a long tradition. Ayrton Senna’s own design set the template; Rubens Barrichello wore elements of it at the 1995 Brazilian Grand Prix, the first held after Senna’s death. Bortoleto’s 2026 season helmet is built on the same colours, with golden wings and a Brazilian flag on top. Câmara’s red sets him apart from both, and the Senna logo on his back connects him to them. Kimi Antonelli has already said he will run a Senna tribute in São Paulo; the other reveals for the weekend are on the São Paulo Grand Prix 2026 page.

This article 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.