A fitting tribute for a first home race: Arthur Leclerc on his special Monaco design

As far as races go, Monaco might just be the most special venue in racing. For Arthur Leclerc though, it’s home. He will be competing in his first home race this weekend around the streets of the Principality and will mark the occasion with a special tribute helmet based around the design of his father.

The DAMS driver talks us through the design process, his favourite parts of the helmet and what it’s like preparing to race around streets he’s grown up knowing his whole life.

“I took the design because my father was in motorsports and had the design on his helmets, so it’s kind of a thank you and tribute to him. We took the same design, changed a few of the colours and along with my brother, we’ve done a special design for this weekend.

“The colours Charles ran a few years ago, those were the colours of the actual helmet he used. For this one, I’ve used the colours of Monaco so we haven’t taken the exact same colour, but the design is the same and it’s a nice tribute to him.

“I have a few favourite parts of it but I just like the design and the colour, it really stands out as being a Monaco helmet. Red and white are my favourite colours, especially for a helmet design. Having the Monaco writing on the back is also very nice.

“It’s crazy for me to be racing here. It’s the first time for me, this morning was very weird to wake up, get dressed and put the red shirt on and then go to work and walk out from home. It’s been strange for me but it’s nice.

“I’ve always wanted to race in Monaco. It’s such a special race and was the first race that I watched back when I was a kid. When I was growing up, I was going to Monaco to watch the races on Sunday. Hearing the cars pass while I was in the grandstand hoping that one day it would be me in the cars. It’s a really special weekend for me and that’s why I did the helmet to pay tribute to and commemorate this moment.

“We took my father’s helmet design and made a few adjustments. There’s a few small parts I really like. There’s a part for my father and then for Jules (Bianchi) as well, the #JB17 on the side that I have on all of my helmets. That’s a tribute to them and these two things never changed. But the design is really for my father and has been pretty similar since the beginning of the design process.

“I first got to see it last week and it looks even more amazing in person than on the 3D model. It was painted by BS Designs. It’s a Bell helmet. I’ve been with them always because I think they make good looking helmets and the safety of the helmet is getting better and better. They are really good and take care of you when you drive so it’s great to have them by my side on every race weekend. They do a super job and are always there if I have any small issues so they’re really good. I think this helmet in particular looks really beautiful.”