Explained: Why Lewis Hamilton Switched From His Monaco GP Special Helmet to His Regular F1 Racing Lid Mid-Race

The 79th Monaco Grand Prix may have been the most dramatic race fans have seen in the Turbo-hybrid era. Before the weekend, we saw a few drivers sport new helmet designs. Among them, Lewis Hamilton was wearing a new helmet design. However, before the restart on lap 32, he changed to his usual helmet. 

Why Lewis Hamilton changed his helmet during the red flag conditions?

During the 2022 Monaco Race Debrief, Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin explained why. The seven-time world champion had changed his helmet under the red flag. “Well in those very dark wet conditions at the start of the race, they are running a clear visor. So that gives them better visibility in the spray,” began Shovlin. 

“When you get into the dry race also the sun is a lot lower in the sky. The end of the race was near six o’clock in the evening and he then moves to a tinted visor just because it gives you better visibility, better contrast.” 

“But you also avoid the sun getting in your eyes,” Andrew concluded.    

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The helmet in question that Lewis started the race with was designed alongside artist Daniel Arsham. On the track, it appeared as if he was wearing a simple white helmet. Lewis Hamilton also mentioned in his tweet that a sculpture was created and that it would be sold to benefit his charity, Mission44. 

Lewis Hamilton explains why Mercedes faltered in Monaco

While Barcelona marked a turning point for Mercedes in performance, Monaco wasn’t what they had expected. With Lewis reporting issues with bouncing in the practice session, Mercedes had their hands full. Even Mercedes Toto Wolff had his reservations about W13’s showing before the Monaco weekend. 

“We have poor rear downforce,” Hamilton said. “Loads of front but nothing on the rear.”

The bumps in Monaco worsened the performance of the car and as a result, the team had to increase the height of the car. Technical expert, Mark Hughes, explained that it wasn’t the porpoising.  

He writes that the new 2022 tires have shallower sidewalls and that leaves the suspension to do all the damping. This is what hampered Mercedes from repeating Barcelona due to problems with their rear suspension. Hence in an effort to deal with porpoising and maintain aero balance, the team had insufficient suspension geometry. 

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And Hamilton made his feelings clear about how Mercedes was struggling. “So [we] anticipated it would be difficult here. I think it’s worse than we anticipated because of the bumps. It’s super bouncy for us everywhere. Slow, medium and high, so challenging.”

But Baku will be no cakewalk either. If Mercedes are struggling to find the right set-up window in slow-speed corners, then Silverstone will be the team’s best bet of repeating a Barcelona.