Bottas unveils rhino charity helmet for Baku with signed photo giveaway for fans

Valtteri Bottas is wearing a custom rhino-themed helmet at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to raise awareness and funds for Care For Wild Rhino Sanctuary, with fans given the chance to win the race-worn lid by purchasing a signed photo of the Cadillac driver.

The helmet was designed by Bottas’s partner, cyclist Tiffany Cromwell, and features an African sunset theme. Its unveiling coincided with World Rhino Day, which Bottas cited as the motivation behind the initiative.

“I have a special helmet for Baku. This week, it was World Rhino Day, a very important day, so it is a rhino-themed helmet,” Bottas said. “I want to help rhinos. I want to help a charity called Care For Wild. And you can help us too. You can buy these cards, and one person who buys these cards will win my race-worn helmet from Baku.”

The Finnish driver also leaned into the moment with a self-deprecating quip — holding up the nude photo available for purchase and declaring: “Bott-ass is back.”

Care For Wild is the world’s largest rhino orphanage, based in South Africa. The organisation rescues and rehabilitates rhinos orphaned by poaching before returning them to the wild, relying on international fundraising to maintain round-the-clock security, specialist veterinary care and rewilding programmes for the endangered species.

Fan reaction on social media was warm. “That’s an amazing looking helmet — by far the best helmet I’ve seen this year,” one user wrote on X, while another called it “so good, and for a great cause.”

On track, Bottas sits 22nd in the drivers’ championship, one place ahead of Cadillac team-mate Sergio Perez. The American outfit, which made its F1 debut at the start of this season, has faced reliability challenges as it adapts to the demands of the top tier.