Life lessons and a nod to home: Joshua Duerksen on his helmet design

Joshua Duerksen is the latest member of the 2025 grid to talk us through his helmet design that received an update for this season.

The AIX Racing driver walks us through the design process, how it has evolved since his early days in racing and what his favourite elements are of his all-new crash helmet design.

Here is what he had to say…

“My very first painted helmet design had some black, red and yellow with chrome details on it. I found the design on the internet and fell in love with it and did a copy and paste of it to be honest.

“I think every driver does that for their first helmet design to be honest. But going forward, I knew what my colours would be from the beginning, but the design today is quite different.

“The colours on this one are predominantly gold, white and black because I quite like that combination. My first one was a little bit close to this one I guess, I had yellow and red and black, so it was getting closer. But on this new helmet I went for a bit more simplistic design, a bit easier to recognise me.

“I think I’ve found a quite good balance with the gold, black and white. The white is matte, the gold is chrome gold, and the black is carbon fibre but shiny. I really like it, it fits my personality and is sponsor friendly, which is important!

“Of course, on the top we have the Paraguayan flag like I had on my previous helmet. I really like how it looks on the top, so I kept it there. Then we have the hashtag here ‘mbarete’ which is a word for ‘strong’. It’s something we as Paraguayans use quite a lot, and I’ve had it there for the last four years. It’s like an identifier of where I’m from.

“I have a cross on the back with my favourite Biblical verse, Joshua 1:9. It’s funny because it’s also Joshua like my name, but it’s a verse that motivates me. This was the verse that touched me the most leaving to race in Europe, leaving my family and friends behind and going alone to Europe for the first time. It’s something that really helped and stands out in my life.

“I have my logo on the back as well and I think that’s it really. I really like the design, I like the colours and have glitter in there too. I have a nice balance in the colours and something that really represents me.

“I’d say my favourite part is the top or the back of the helmet. I really like how the white and glitter along with the gold come together.

“Since starting in formula racing, I’ve been with Bell, and they paint it in house, and they’ve done the design and I’m really happy with their work.”