Sato: The story behind the Cherry Blossoms

We went behind the visor with Campos Racing driver Marino Sato to discuss the design of his helmet and delve into the back-story of where it all began.

The 20-year-old discusses the Japanese inspiration behind his patriotic helmet design and why he hopes to use the same one for the rest of his career.

“The base of this helmet is the same as my very first design. It is only really the colours which are a bit different, and the flowers. The very first helmet that I had was left up to the design/painter completely. I think that my only requirement was to put the big M of my name on there, which I still have. My designer is Japanese and he does all of the painting and the design for me. He does a really good job, I have worked with him for like 10 years now.

“I added the flowers for my first overseas race. They are Japanese flowers and in English, they are called cherry blossoms. I like that because everyone can see the Japanese theme, and it isn't very common.

“The helmet features my name in Japanese and that is new from this year as well, and there have been some tiny detail changes. Colour wise, it has been the same since my first international race. Not a lot of drivers have this colour, which makes me easier to recognise.

“I think that these days, helmets are very detailed, and artistic, but I think for me, as much as it should look nice close up, it is very important for it to look it's best when you are running on track. To do that, you need to keep it fairly simple.

“You could change your helmet every year, but the people who support you, who are looking out for you on track, may be lost and will not remember your design. I would like to keep this design for life.”