Inside Motorsports Vol. 1 2018/Q1 - Part I | Page 21

Hel met of t he er a
hist or y and anal yzis
1990's: Mika
Hakkinen's hel met
Aer odynami cs became ext r emel y used
i n For mul a 1 when t he '90s came. So
ext r eme, t hat even hel met s st ar t ed
t o get desi gned by t hei r dr ag i n
mi nd! Hel met s had a l i t t l e f r ont
wi ng, and a r ever sed wi ng pr of i l e at
t he r ear and t he si de t o push t he
hel met
down at
hi gh speeds,
ot her wi se, t he hel met shape woul d
gener at e upwi nd, whi ch i s not desi r ed
and coul d be even har mf ul .
Fur t her mor e, t o spar e as much wei ght
as possi bl e, l i ght wei ght mat er i al s
st ar t ed t o be used dur i ng t he
hel met 's const r uct i on phase! To
i mpr ove vent i l at i on smal l l i ds wer e
pl aced at t he f r ont sect i on of t he
hel met , gi vi ng mor e oxygen f or t he
dr i ver .