They can withstand 800C temperatures and if you accidentally park a tank on one they won’t so much as crack.

They also come in a range of pretty colours. See what the drivers of 2011 have done with their helmet designs:

Sebastian Vettel

Mark Webber

Lewis Hamilton

Jenson Button

Fernando Alonso

Felipe Massa

Michael Schumacher

Nico Rosberg

Nick Heidfeld

Vitaly Petrov

Rubens Barrichello

Pastor Maldonado

Adrian Sutil

Paul di Resta

Kamui Kobayashi

Sergio Perez

Sebastien Buemi

Jaime Alguersuari

Heikki Kovalainen

Jarno Trulli

Narain Karthikeyan

Vitantono Liuzzi

Timo Glock

Jerome d’Ambrosio

Got a favourite? Vote for which driver’s helmet design you most prefer:

Which F1 helmet design do you like best? Sebastian Vettel (7%)

Mark Webber (2%)

Lewis Hamilton (13%)

Jenson Button (7%)

Fernando Alonso (6%)

Felipe Massa (4%)

Michael Schumacher (8%)

Nico Rosberg (3%)

Nick Heidfeld (13%)

Vitaly Petrov (4%)

Rubens Barrichello (3%)

Pastor Maldonado (1%)

Adrian Sutil (0%)

Paul di Resta (0%)

Kamui Kobayashi (6%)

Sergio Perez (1%)

Sebastien Buemi (0%)

Jaime Alguersuari (2%)

Heikki Kovalainen (9%)

Jarno Trulli (0%)

Narain Karthikeyan (0%)

Vitantonio Liuzzi (5%)

Timo Glock (2%)

Jerome d'Ambrosio (4%) Total Voters: 490

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2011 F1 helmets – more pictures

Some more angles on the helmets of 2011:

F1 pictures

View more F1 pictures

Images ?�?� Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo, Renault/LAT, Williams/LAT, McLaren, Getty Images/Red Bull, Force India F1 Team, Sauber F1 Team, Team Lotus, Virgin Racing, Motioncompany