Keeping a lid on safety

Mark Webber’s enormous accident in last weekend’s Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain, brought once more into sharp focus the safety equipment vital to the current crop of Grand Prix drivers.

Amongst them are the Head and Neck Safety device (HANS), kevlar wheel tethers and the super-strength carbon fibre race cars themselves which are subject to crash testing at enormous impact loads, designed to protect drivers in the most extreme of accidents.

But top of the safety list must be the drivers’ crash helmets, which protect their heads and faces in the event of an accident.

To celebrate the introduction of the latest range of Mobil 1 products to its UK stores, leading car accessory retailer, Halfords, is giving away a replica Lewis Hamilton crash helmet, signed by the 2008 FIA Formula One™ World Champion himself, at www.Halfords.com/mobil1 .

Hamilton’s distinctive yellow crash helmet that he wears at all Grands Prix is an amazing piece of kit:

·         The carbon fibre is made by a specialist Japanese company which gives the same material to Boeing to use as sheeting on its Dreamliner plane

·         The helmet and visor are fire tested by applying an 800 degree C propane flame to them – despite this, the padding and lining materials in contact with Lewis’s head will never exceed 70 degrees C

·         A 3kg weight can be dropped on to the visor from 1.6m without damaging it

·         The visor is so strong that it would withstand being shot by a gun bullet weighing 1g and with a diameter of 5.5mm at a speed of 500kmh

·         Lewis’s helmets cost 5000 Euros (£4,300) each

·         Lewis’s helmet is made up of 6 or 7 layers of differently-weaved, pre-impregnated carbon fibre sheeting – the exact number used is a secret, but standard motorcycle helmets have 3

·         Depending on the paint used on the helmet, and whether a radio has been fitted, Lewis’s helmet weighs just 1.3kg

As race fans gear up to pick out Lewis’s instantly-recognisable, bright yellow helmet design at the British Grand Prix, at Silverstone on July 11, there are just four weeks left in the competition to win a replica of this famous helmet at Halfords.com/Mobil1. 

The competition is free to enter and no purchase is necessary.