A change to the Sporting Regulations for 2020 means that drivers can now change their helmet designs on a regular basis if they wish.

Formula 1 drivers will have the option to change up their helmet designs as much as they like once again, after five years of a ban on design changes.

The Sporting Regulations were altered prior to 2015 to prevent the drivers from making big changes to their liveries on a regular basis, stating: “In order for drivers to be easily distinguished from one another whilst they are on the track, the crash helmet of each driver must be presented in substantially the same livery at every event during a championship season.”

It wasn’t a particularly popular rule, with no clear benefit to Formula 1, and the rule has thus been changed for 2020.

At a meeting of the World Motorsport Council on Friday, the agreement was reached to change the 2020 Sporting Regulations with approval for unrestricted variations to driver helmet designs between races.

The rule had come up for review as a result of some backlash after Daniil Kvyat enquired about using a special livery for his home race at Sochi in 2019, but was told he couldn’t due to the rule, something that the Russian driver branded as ‘a joke’ publicly.

As you can imagine, the drivers have jumped on the relaxation of the rules, with Lando Norris immediately announcing a competition amongst his fans to design his helmet for the British Grand Prix later this year.