In Formula 1, the donning of a special or commemorative helmet design has historically been something of a rarity. In the sport’s intensely brand-centric and social media-fuelled modern era, F1 drivers are now seen sporting custom lids every other week.
Case in point: McLaren Racing driver Lando Norris, who has just taken the wraps off his new custom Halo helmet styled to resemble series hero Master Chief. You’ll be seeing more of this dome — Norris will be wearing it at this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix. The first look came via Lando’s personal Instagram.
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This was quickly followed by a second, very tongue-in-cheek post over on Quadrant, Norris’ content and apparel company.
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Though Norris himself holds the only full-size version of the Master Chief helmet, you can actually buy a 1:2 scale version of it over on the Quadrant store — because of course you can. This is F1, after all. Everything is for sale, and none of it is cheap. The Master Chief Quadrant replica helmet will set you back a mean $US165, which weighs in somewhere around $AU255.
There’s even a damn Instagram filter if you want to try before you buy.
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The helmet is part of a brand partnership with the Halo Championship Series esports competition and Halo Infinite. It follows a year of video game news for F1 fans, with F1 22 launching as a solid racer still struggling to get on top of some of its grubbier underlying problems, and F1 Manager 22 reviving the lost racing team management sim (though, sadly, without the excellent Spygate mechanic of F1 Manager on the PS2. Earlier this year, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton bought himself a Sega Mega Drive with a copy of Ayrton Senna’s Super Monaco GP II.
As the sport’s profile has risen meteorically after the Netflix series Drive to Survive hooked viewers in pandemic lockdown, brands continue to scramble for a coveted spot on cars, kits, and the drivers’ social media profiles. That means many more video game lids like these to come in future, I’m sure.
So, what do we think of Lando’s Halo lid? Let me know in the comments below.
The Singapore Grand Prix kicks off on Sunday night at 10 pm AEST. You stream it live in Australia on Kayo.
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