Feature

Behind The Visor: 'A helmet signifies who you are' - Bianca Bustamante on her AI-created Miami design and what it means

28 May 2024

Eagle-eyed fans might have spotted Bianca Bustamante sporting a striking helmet on track over the Miami race weekend - but there's much more to it than the sunny and colourful design.

Detailing how the lid came to be, the Filipino driver discussed how she explored her creative side through McLaren’s partnership with Google and how distinct helmet designs showcase her identity when the visors go down.

“It was actually designed by me,” Bustamante explained. “It’s also a Google takeover, I designed it along with Google through my Chrome Theme and AI. It’s this cool concept where you can choose how you’re feeling and, obviously, I was feeling very happy and loving with a beach and sunset — that’s kind of who I am as a person.

“Of course, you’ve got the whole papaya thing. It truly represents who I am, the things I represent and it’s beautiful. It’s turned into this crazy piece of artwork and we fine-tuned it into things that I also love, which are the Northern Lights. I love the Northern Lights, I’ve never been (to see them) but I’ve always wanted to go.

“I’ve got my racing number as well as a lot of my other partners. So, because it’s a Google takeover, we’ve added little bits here and there that make it a little extra special. For example, my name is actually a Google tab, that’s a cute little thing that we’ve added. We’ve also got the McLaren slogan which is ‘Forever Forward’.

Bustamante took her helmet design all the way to the Miami podium with a P2 finish in Race 2

“We also have my logo on it and, of course, my Philippines flag. I can’t go anywhere without it, I’m so proud to be Filipino — I’m like woo! You’ve got the Laban Pilipinas at the back, as well as my other sponsors such as Sephora, Charlotte Tilbury, Chrome and Cisco. We’ve got the speed mark of McLaren and my long-term sponsor LEE, which is Lance East Exotics, they’ve been with me since last year.

“It’s a great representation of who I am and where I am right now in my life. I love it so much, actually it’s probably one of my favourite helmets.”

Comparing how different her helmet looked to one she drove with in Jeddah, Bustamante noted: “A lot of things (have changed). Normally for our racing helmets you want a fierce look with lots of harsh lines, racing stripes and all those things. But here, we wanted to turn it into a piece of art — it is a piece of art. The first time I saw it I said it deserves to be in a museum.

“The sunset, the beach and the waves crashing, it makes me feel right at home. In the Philippines, we’re known for our beaches and our amazing islands. It brings me a lot closer to home and I think one of the coolest things is actually having the Chrome logo on top of the helmet. I think that’s really, really cool. It’s not every day in your life that your partner is one of the biggest brands in the world. It’s an amazing opportunity, they’ve given me so much and I’m really happy to be part of the team.”

“It’s extremely important,” Bustamante replied when asked how significant helmet designs are to her. “To be partnered with Bell this year, it’s allowed me to have a team to be able to design a helmet specifically to what I want it to be. Here I had complete control of how it turns out. I feel like you have that strong relationship, it’s the only thing that you can customise in your life and the only thing that you have complete control over.

“It’s so important because it hides the driver’s feeling. I feel like a helmet signifies who you are and once you have that visor down, it’s like a mask. You can be who you want to be, you can be as strong and as fierce.

“For me, it’s always been my comfort zone when I have the helmet on, so I’ve always looked up into sunsets because the whole idea of it is that no matter how tough it gets, the sun will always rise again.”