Vettel displays special helmet in tribute to Dietrich Mateschitz ahead of Mexico City GP

Ahead of last weekend’s race in Austin, Red Bull co-owner and founder Dietrich Mateschitz passed away at the age of 78. And this weekend in Mexico, his team’s former driver Sebastian Vettel is donning a special helmet in tribute to his late boss.

Vettel raced for Red Bull from 2009 to 2014, winning his four World Championships in the process, having also previously driven for their junior team Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) for a season and a half – famously achieving the team’s and his first victory at Monza in 2008.

READ MORE: ‘He helped to transform our sport’ – F1 paddock pays tribute to Dietrich Mateschitz

And as a tribute to a man he called “a great inspiration” to him, Vettel is sporting a familiar looking helmet this weekend, which according to designer Jens Munser “is based on his 1998 karting helmet when he first joined Red Bull”, with a message of “Danke Didi” – translating to “Thank you Didi” – in homage to Mateschitz.

Have a look at the stunning tribute helmet below.