Red Bull Motorsports
F1
"Same, but different": Max Verstappen's new helmet revealed
Max Verstappen is back and ready to fight for the 2026 Formula One world title and new helmet design features some subtle new details that highlight the huge changes this season brings to the sport.
Max Verstappen is back and ready to fight to for 2026 Formula One season and a fifth Drivers' Championship title. Unveiling his new helmet on Instagram with the statement, 'Same but different. I’m ready!, the four-time world champion's new lid is a subtle update on 2025's new design that paid tribute to his journey from karting prodigy to four-time world champion – complete with the strategic appearance Oracle Red Bull Racing's new engine partner Ford's logo.
Inspired by the helmet he wore when he first started racing at the age of four, the design features a subtle tribute to his father, Jos Verstappen, whose own helmet left a lasting impression on Max.
Same, but different: Max Verstappen's 2026 helmet design
"This helmet design is basically similar to when I started racing, when I was four years old," Verstappen explained last year. "It was based on my dad's design and I’m definitely very proud of that. When I started racing, my dad's helmet design was very important to me. That was the helmet I really liked and which I'm very proud to wear."
A similar look to the previous helmet, but with some subtle new additions
© Verstappen.com/David Klopman
Four stars to celebrate his four world titles are painted on the rear
© Verstappen.com/David Klopman
New engine supplier Ford is represented on Verstppen's new helmet
© Verstappen.com / David Klopman
Every detail of this new design tells a story - the red and blue lines representing the Dutch flag, the clean and simple aesthetic and, of course, the lion on top – a signature of Verstappen's identity.
What is new however are the iconic blue Ford logos on the temples, celebrating the arrival of the American motoring giant as the official engine partner of Oracle Red Bull Racing for the historic 2026 season and beyond under the Red Bull Ford Powertrains name.
In a subtle update to 2025, the new 2026 helmet is also finished with a significantly more gloss lacquer, which will give it a real shine in the cockpit.
Looking ahead: A new chapter for F1, Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen
Oracle Red Bull Racing unveiled the RB22 in Ford's hometown, Detroit
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
2026 marks the biggest change to the Formula One rules for many years, with a complete overhaul of the rules meaning season promises to be a game changer: the cars will be shorter, narrower and lighter, and powered by all-new engines, while DRS gives way to a new active aero system. There’s also a new street-based race circuit in Madrid coming and two more manufacturers on the grid, taking the grid up to 22 drivers.
The new regulations are a massive, game-changing reset of F1 and you can find out more about them in more detail here, but that's not the only new challenge Oracle Red Bull Racing and sister team Visa Cash-App Racing Bulls are facing.
2026 marks the debut of the all-new Red Bull Ford Powertrains partnership, with engines supplied by the American giant being developed and built in the Red Bull Powertrains factory in Milton Keynes, next door to the race team's base. This makes Red Bull the first F1 team to go from making chassis to developing its own power unit.
The Oracle Red Bull Racing RB22
© Oracle Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool
The brand new engine will hit the track for the first time at the official pre-season F1 test Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from January 26–30, where Verstappen and the other Red Bull drivers will find out just what this new motor and all-new cars are capable of. There's no doubt the new RB22 looks absolutely stunning however thanks to a new, glossy racing blue car inspired by both Ford and Red Bull's early days in F1
"2026 marks the start of a new and significant era for Formula One and for Red Bull. We wanted our livery to reflect this, while also giving a nod to Red Bull Racing's beginning," says Team Principal Laurent Mekies.
Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar: A new Red Bull Racing era begins
This season, Verstappen will be working alongside Isack Hadjar, who scored a sensational podium in debut F1 season with Visa Cash-APP RB in 2025. The young French talent will be his eighth team-mate in Formula One. The Dutchman remains the clear leader at Red Bull and Hadjar can't wait to learn from him.
Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar are teaming up at ORed Bull Racing
© Getty Images
The ultimate goal? A fifth world title for Verstappen after coming up just two points short during a thrilling finale to the 2025 season and a return to Constructors' Championship glory for Red Bull Racing.
