Wurz's Hamleys Helmet Design

Posted on Saturday 07 Jul 2007

Summer Finlay, a twelve year old Formula One fan from Woodbridge, Suffolk, was announced on Wednesday this week as the winner of the Hamleys competition to design Alex Wurz’s race helmet for this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Summer, whose design was selected from over two thousand entries, met Alex Wurz at Hamley’s flagship store in Regent Street in London’s West End after her design was selected by Alex and a panel of judges as the winning entry in the promotion run by ATT Williams official partner, Hamleys.

Summer will be a guest of the ATT Williams team at Silverstone this weekend and will present Alex with his new helmet immediately prior to the formation lap for Sunday’s Grand Prix. She said, “Dad and I love Formula One and we always watch the races live, even if it is in the middle of the night. I’ve always loved the sport and the chance to design a helmet was too good to miss. I wanted to use Alex’s national colours and his initials and that was the basis of my idea.” After meeting Alex on Wednesday, Summer said, “It was a great day out at Hamleys and spent hours deciding how to spend the vouchers I won. Now I am looking forward to another amazing day with Alex and Williams on Sunday.”

Alex, who is known for airbrushing his own helmets, commended Summer’s work. “She has done a great job – a simple but very effective design and I have told her that I am sure it will make me go as fast as possible come the race.”

Stella Hartley, Marketing Director at Hamleys said, “It is fantastic for Hamleys to be involved in such an exciting sport as Formula One and with a long established team such as ATT Williams. We’re also delighted that we’ve been able to share this involvement with our customers. We know from the huge response to this competition that many of our customers are really passionate about Formula One and the ATT Williams team. The competition has been a real hit and we were amazed by the standard of entries. The judges faced a really tough job!” She continued, “Hamleys really nurtures creativity and talent in children, developing projects that are exciting and inspiring for kids! This competition has motivated them to be imaginative and the prize has been a real incentive.”

More pictures of Summer’s helmet design in action can be viewed in the gallery.