Review: Spark 1:5 F1 helmet replica – Lewis Hamilton 2020 Turkish GP helmet

While Lewis Hamilton has varied his race helmet over his career (and even during his time with Mercedes), his recent black and purple 2020 season helmet (designed by Lewis’ helmet designer since 2017, Rai Caldato) was striking and quickly become instantly recognisable alongside the black BLM inspired liveried Mercedes AMG W11. With last season’s tumultuous battle with Max Verstappen, Lewis’ black helmet is likely to be a fan favourite.

Spark (well known for their resin 1:43 and 1:18 car models) also offer replica driver helmets in 1:5 scale.  This scale sits somewhat in-between the older Minichamps 1:8 scale helmets and the 1:2 replicas (check out the photos below). Back in 2016, I did a short intro post on F1 helmet collecting. That post compared full size replicas with 1:2 Bell and 1:8 Minichamps replicas and I never got around to including the 1:5 Sparks which only really started to released from 2017. Spark also released 1:8 scale helmets for 2013 to 2019 seasons, although 1:8 Lewis helmets are harder to find now (i.e. resale price rise). The Pannini releases of 2017 and 2018 featured 1:5 Spark helmets of past champions and current season drivers.

Let’s take a quick look at the 1:5 Spark rendition of Lewis’ 2020 Turkish GP helmet where he equaled 7 championships alongside Michael Schumacher. The Spark 1:5 helmet is surprisingly better than I expected, especially considering the price point ($US35-50).

The helmet come mounted on a plastic base with clear display cube cover. Physically, the display case measures 8cm square compared to the 5cm Minichamps 1:5 helmets.

The paintwork render looks quite accurate and the sparkle on the #44 and “Still I Rise” lettering definitely pops. This is a nice one for Lewis fans.

Spark have recently announced it will be releasing 1:5 Lewis helmet raced at 2021 Abu Dhabi (no word on Max’s helmet, but it would be fantastic if they also released it).

Note: The plastic aero appendages to the 2021 helmets drop off quite easily (especially below the visor) so careful handling is needed.

[Ed March 2021 footnote: I’ve added an extra photo below of Lewis Hamilton’s 2020 v 2021 helmet produced in 1:5 by Spark. The 2021 helmet is the early 2021 season one that Lewis drove in Bahrain GP. At first glance they almost look the same but there are subtle differences. His 2021 has a deeper shade of purple and includes Crowdstrike sponsorship. Consistent with his past helmets, he has the extra star to include his 7th championship in 2020. We know he later modified his helmet in 2021 to be more black and purple with gold lines inspired by Marvel’s Black Panther mask and the one off LGBQ rainbow helmet raced at the Saudi GP.  The 2021 design looks a lot sharper although the 2020 helmet has a little more historical significance with BLM messaging at the back and being his 7th world championship. Both of these Spark helmets look great.

For 2022, Lewis seems to have retained the black lines of his 2021 helmet but changed the purple to fluorescent yellow and black section under the visor to purple. Personally, I prefer his 2020 helmet but let’s see if the change of colour brings him the 8th championship! ]

Lewis’ 7th world championship season helmet

2020 Turkish GP winner

1:2 2008 helmet (left) vs 1:8 2020 helmet (right)

3 in a row (1:2, 1:5, 1:8)

Lewis’ 2020 helmet (left) vs 2021 helmet (right) in 1:5 scale by Spark