GP4: 2024 Red Bull RB20 Launch Car Released

It's the day before pre-season testing for the 2024 F1 Season and I have a little gift for you.  

I proudly share with you the first 2024 car to be released in GP4...

Nope, this is no joke, I really do have a brand new 2024 car for you to download and enjoy in GP4. 

Whilst the car was only launched a few days ago, there was, albeit briefly, an augmented reality version of the car available on the team's website. I was able to use this car as a base for my own work. It wouldn't have been possible to create this so quickly without it and with so much mystery still behind what Red Bull have created for 2024. 

I have a hunch that this version of the car will change, perhaps quite dramatically, through the season, so I'm sharing this as the launch specification, whilst it is still relevant. Whilst it seems like most cars on the grid converged upon the dominant 2023 Red Bull RB19, Adrian Newey had other ideas and moved the goalposts once again. If rumours are to be believed, this car will adopt a Mercedes (now abandoned) zero-pod concept, along with the engine cover 'cannons'. As impressive as this car looks out of the box, our hope must be for a closer championship than we've seen in the last two seasons. 

If the car does change, then at least I have a good base to start making some changes to the shape. Because of that, I've not created any lower lods for this car yet. You'll notice that the preview shots below reveal Max Verstappen's 2024 helmet, which is little changed from his 2023 Italian GP lid. Work has begun on the 2024 helmet set, but drivers have been known to change designs before the first race, so I'm not in too much of a rush just in case my efforts turn out to be in vain. 

As I said above, I'm only able to share this car quickly with you because I had a very good base to begin with, so don't expect any other 2024 cars by me until later this year. Anyway, here's the download link for the 2024 Red Bull RB20. Happy racing!

GP4: 2023 Helmets 'November' Update

After the Qatari GP, I took a little break from my 2023 helmet set to concentrate on some other projects. So far this year, there hasn't been a crazy amount of special helmets, which has been pretty manageable for me which is great, but I was expecting that to change for the last four races of the year, and, boy, there were quite a lot of them. I had been doing monthly updates and this was meant to have been the October and November update combined, but sorry I've missed it by a few days. Because of the sheer number of helmets, I'm going to release them in two batches. There's no real order to which I'm creating these helmets, but here is what has been done so far. 

Max Verstappen - Qatar GP

Firstly, congratulations to Max and Red Bull on their dominant Championships this season. Dominance brings a bit of inevitability and can be a bit dull at times, but that's no reason not to recognise both team and driver at the absolute top of their game and respect to that. It's official, not only was it record breaking, but it is statistically the most dominant performance from a driver ever in F1. Massive respect, and fully deserved. Sure he didn't win every race, but to be out front at pretty much every race, to wipe the floor with his experienced team-mate the way that he has, and appear so dominant in a close grid (compared to the old days), this is praise-worthy stuff that is not likely to be repeated soon, if at all. Congrats to Max, to Red Bull, to Adrian Newey et al for this incredible effort. 

After winning the Championship at the sprint race, Max was presented with a new World Championship helmet in blue and gold, following the design of his late season helmet. Verstappen did a similar thing last year when he wore a gold helmet celebrate his championship victory and now this one features three stars at the rear of the helmet. Designed once more by KV Designs, the helmet was beautifully painted by JMD Helmets. Max wore the helmet at the Qatar GP which, predictably, he also won. 

Pierre Gasly - Qatar GP

Pierre presented two helmets which he wore during the weekend in Qatar. It's his race helmet that I've decided to recreate. This helmet, designed by Alanoud Al Ghamdi and Shouq Al Mana for Qatar Creates, is inspired by the flora and fauana of the desert, its nomadic people, using textures inspired by the sand and the Qatari flag, Arabic calligraphy and the cultural symbol of the horse. These are all nicely worked into his regular helmet design where Pierre had a competitive weekend, despite being one of the most penalised over track limits in the race. 

GP4: 2023 helmets September Update

It has, in general, been a reasonably quiet season for special helmets, but the last three Grand Prix has, by my count, seen 18 special helmets raced in three Grand Prix. Both Zhou and Tsunoda ran a special helmet at each of the three races. Not only has there been plenty of helmets to keep me busy, but these are some of the more difficult helmets to recreate this season. Here's a quick summary of what's new. 

Italian GP

The three Italian teams (well two based in Italy, and the other sponsored by an Italian car brand) saw all their drivers run new helmets. 

2023 Liam Lawson helmet

Technically, this is not a special, one off just the debut of Liam's proper Alpha Tauri helmet by MDM Designs. The one he raced at the previous race at short notice was his Red Bull testing helmet, but the Alpha Tauri helmet has an all white base rather than a blue one. 

2023 Tsunoda Italian GP helmet

Team-mate Yuki Tsunoda has his regular design, by Adrien Paviot, changed to the colours of the Italian flag in much the same was as he did earlier in the year at Miami. I did have to change the arrangement in leaves a little. 

2023 Leclerc Italian GP helmet

Ferrari ran a special livery for the Italian GP, celebrating their successful return to top tier Le Mans racing. To suit, Charles' helmet, by Adrien Paviot, turned Modena yellow which looks great with the car. 

2023 Sainz Italian GP helmet

Carlos' helmet, by Dave Designs, is predominantly black, using the red and yellow of Ferrari in the style of the Spanish flag. The busy dash style remains at the bottom of the helmet to keep a bit of continuity with his regular helmet design. 

2023 Zhou Italian GP helmet

Alfa Romeo also ran a special livery, this time to promote a new road car release, the Alfa 33 Stradale. Zhou's helmet, by KV Designs, has the colours of the Italian flag worked into his regular design, with various homages to Alfa Romeo, including pictures of race winning Alfa Romeos on each side. 

2023 Bottas Italian GP helmet

Another design by Tiffany Cromwell that is simple and fun and is a cartoon version of an original F1 helmet, with tributes to previously successful Alfa Romeo drivers written on the straps. It was nice to recreate this one with varying leathers and stitching effects. 

2023 Verstappen late season helmet

Verstappen has an amended design which he intends to use for the remainder of the season, except for any special liveries. This design is a modernised version of his first ever helmet when he was still karting, which clearly draws inspiration from his father's F1 helmet. Nice work from KV Designs. 

Singapore GP

2023 Tsunoda Singapore GP helmet

Yuki's helmet for the Singapore GP is designed by Wood Eye designs, and features a cat's face on the front and top. A nice, simple and elegant design. 

2023 Norris Singapore GP helmet

Lando continues his trend of running one helmet with heavy Quadrant branding each year. For this year, Quadrant ran a competition for people to design something for each segment of the Q. The helmet is sparkly all over, and all the sponsors are super reflective. The galaxy like swirls took a bit of time to recreate, especially trying to get everything lined up along the seams, but I'm really please with how this looks, particulaly in-game. 

Oscar Piastri also ran a sparkly version of his regular helmet, which is included in the pack, but on the render it doesn't really show up, so I've not included the preview here. 

2023 Magnussen Singapore GP helmet

I really like Kevin's helmets this year, and KV Designs has created this beauty for KMag to run at the Singapore GP. With this being a white helmet with flashes of red, you'd think this is a Japanese version, but then again it would get lost in all the white and red helmets. Anyway, this one really pops in the Haas. 

2023 Zhou Singapore GP helmet

This helmet is inspired by the Chinese tradition of an animal representing their calendar year. This one celebrates the 'Year of the Rabbit', with a kind of Japanese style of graphic with cute Chinese illustrations. The Rabbit ears on the front of the helmet is a nice touch. This helmet took me a while to recreate, with a mix of hand-drawn elements blended with taking parts from photos. 

2023 Perez Singapore GP helmet

Last, but not least for the Singapore GP, is Checo's helmet, by MDM Designs, that celebrates his 250th GP in Formula 1. The helmet incorporates various pictures from his race victories in the last couple of years. Thankfully the photos were quite easy for me to find and was reasonably straight forward to incorporate into his design, which is heavily Mexican flag influenced with a hint of gold. Sadly for Sergio, it was really a race to forget. 

Japanese GP

2023 Tsunoda Japanese GP helmet

For his home race, Tsunoda is wearing another Wood Eye designed helmet. This is quite a plain helmet really, which suits me nicely. I'm grateful for translation tools these days to help me with some of the Japanese text. The 22 on the back was a bit of a pain, it's the most stretched part of the helmet and has three seams to line up. It took a lot of trial and error but I'm happy with the result. 

2023 Zhou Japanese GP helmet

Zhou is the other driver to run his third consecutive special helmet, this one designed by Hiroshi Fukiwara to promote his Fragment Design brand. Thankfully this didn't take long to make and I like the finished design. 

2023 Ocon Japanese GP helmet

Estie Bestie has a Japanese inspired helmet with the Suzuka track map and corners worked into the design. This is a nicely done helmet by KV Designs, and I really enjoyed making this one. 

2023 Hamilton Japanese GP helmet

Hamilton's promotion pictures for his helmet were quite striking, with this helmet designed by Hajime Sorayama, however when it hit the track, it was quite a simple chrome design. Even in the garage, the visor seem to have a covering with the yellow beam from the visor and the chromed silver and gold knobs on the side. This fits Hijime's artwork with a futuristic looking robotic humanoid, and Hamilton has a line of merch featuring Sorayama's designs. 

2023 Verstappen Japanese GP

Max's debut F1 session was at Suzuka, and last year he clinched the Driver's Championship, amid some confusion, also at this track. Like many drivers, his helmet is inspired by the Japanese flag and it's simplicity. 

2023 Stroll Japanese GP helmet

Mark Antar has designed another nice helmet for Stroll to wear for the Japanese GP, with a hand drawn style that accentuates the contours of the Stilo helmet. The rear features a Japanese artistic style with the waves and the rising sun. 

2023 Alonso Japanese GP helmet

And finally, we have Fernando's special helmet, designed by MDM Designs and painted by Jens Munser. Alonso has spoken many times in the past about the way of the Samurai, taking its inspiration into his approach for racing. 

Phew, that's been a busy month of creating and releasing GP4 content for you. The pack is rapidly approaching 100 helmets, and with the races to come, I think I'll be busy creating more designs for the remainder of the season. 

Huge thanks to Nick for the renders, they look great and it also saves me so much time. Thanks also to Jvinu for his helmet shapes and templates and for allowing me to amend them. 

As always, all the helmet previews can be seen here, and it's also where you will find the latest download link: https://fongugp4.blogspot.com/p/gp4-2023-helmets.html

And all 2023 content for GP4 is regularly updated here: https://fongugp4.blogspot.com/p/gp4-2023-download-sources.html

GP4: 2023 Helmets August Update

2023 Helmet Pack v1.05

How is it nearly the end of August already? 

Well here's some more helmets, with previews done by Nick9320. 

Before we get going with the liveries, I've actually made further modifications to the helmet shapes, originally created by Jvinu. These amended shapes are compatible with previous helmet sets. The change I've made is to stop the flickering of the visor strip from a distance in GP4. I've basically deleted the overlapping cells. 

First up, we have another new Alpha Tauri driver. Liam has been a Red Bull Junior for a few years now, and this design is slightly different from the one that he's using over in Super Formula this year, both designed by MDM Helmets. There was clearly no time to transfer it over to Alpha Tauri branding, so this helmet may only appear once, but here the helmet as seen at the Dutch GP is now included in the 2023 helmet pack. 

Onto the special Dutch GP helmets now and we Nico Hülkenberg has a new lid, designed by JMD Helmets. It continues the paint splattered theme he's been running this season, but with a brighter blue and a more orangey red to go with the Dutch flag on the sides of his helmet. 

Did you know that the Haas cars always have a little rabbit on them. The reason is that Haas in Dutch is the word for rabbit (or hare). 

Having not run special helmets at either the Austrian or the Belgian GPs as he usually does, Max decided to run an asymmetric colour scheme twist to his usual helmet design, with blue to his right and a deep red to his left. The top of the helmet now has a clear Dutch influence. The Dutchman used this helmet to good effect as he took his ninth consecutive victory. 

Going back to the Belgian GP before the summer break and I noticed two new helmets. The first was worn by Valterri Bottas which, as usual, was designed by his girlfriend Tiffany Cromwell, with various tasty Belgian treats littered on a blue helmet with a ribbon in the colours of the Belgian flag across it. 

Next up we have a unique helmet design for Esteban Ocon, a helmet which is in deference to their sponsor Bell & Ross who are watch-makers. The design is slightly different on each side, and for a sponsor inspired design, it's not a bad one. 

I had missed this earlier in the season. In Azerbaijan, Esteban introduced his red helmet with white lines, which was a little Schumacher inspired. The helmet did appear again during qualifying at the Spanish GP. From the Monaco GP onwards, the white lines turned black, perhaps a little influenced by Spider-Man, and he's been using this as his preferred helmet when he's not running other special liveries. 

All that's left to say is thank you for downloading and enjoying my content. 

Thank you for supporting my blog. 

Thanks to Nick and Jvinu for their efforts in helping me with the helmets. 

As always, check out the rest of the 2023 helmets on this page here, which also has the latest download link: https://fongugp4.blogspot.com/p/gp4-2023-helmets.html

For all the 2023 content for GP4, I've tried to compile a list of links here: link

GP4: 2022/23 Red Bull RB18 download

As the new 2023 season rolls in, I'm happy to share with you a new car, it's the Red Bull RB18. 

2022 Red Bull RB18 by Fongu

 

This car was the class of the field for 2022, earning the team's first Constructors Championship since 2013, and with Max earning his second successive Drivers title. This of course was the first year of the new rules with ground effect aerodynamics returning to the cars. Whilst many teams struggled with bouncing and porpoising, Red Bull's car didn't suffer as much as its rivals did. Whilst Ferrari seemed to be the car to beat in the early rounds, it was Newey's Red Bull that would prove to be a better all round solution, and by mid-season was well ahead. This was no more evident than at the Belgian GP, where Max started the race in 14th place and still came home to a comfortable victory. 

This is quite a basic car compared to my other releases, but still looks great ingame to me. 

For the 2023 season, Red Bull tried to pass off the RB18 as their new car as they launched their new livery. Most people saw through that but hte RB19 that showed up in testing was a clear evolution from its successful predecessor. So with this release, you get the option to run the 2023 livery on this car as well.

2023 Red Bull livery by Fongu

At the launch, Red Bull announced a new partnership with Ford for the 2026 season, as it's own Red Bull Power Trains operation comes online, after much help from Honda in setting it all up. Until then, we see the return of the Honda name on the car, who can't help but put their name with all the success the team are achieving right now, and rightly so. 

You'll notice I have 2023 helmets for the Red Bull drivers completed in these screenshots, I am making good progress on that front and expect some releases on that front soon. 

Until then, I hope you enjoy this car. Happy racing. 

GP4: 2022 Mexican and Sao Paulo helmets

Hey there race fans. Today I present to you various helmets from the last two races in Mexico and Sao Paulo (I still can't stop calling it the Brazilian GP). There are 10 new designs to show you and one variant added to the 2022 helmet pack. 

Sebastian Vettel - Mexican GP

Sebastian Vettel 2022 Mexican GP helmet

It was a real loss to that the world now that we are without Dietrich Mateschitz. He has done so much good without flaunting it or seeking business wealth, and that is no more evident than his contributions to F1. He did it for the love of it, and for sure F1 would be in much more dire circumstances without him. Seb dedicated this whole helmet to his memory, and based the design on his first helmet when he was signed as a Red Bull junior back in 1998, complete with Red Bull logos and the text replaced with 'Danke Didi'. As most juniors had essentially the same design back in the day, this helmet in a green Aston did bring back memories of Klien in a green Jaguar. 

Max Verstappen - Mexican & Sao Paulo GP

Max Verstappen 2022 World Champion helmet

Having clinched his second Championship early, Max has decided to wear a gold based helmet for the rest of the season. In Mexico, the helmet was gold-plated, whilst in Brazil it was chrome gold. Basically the Brazilian version was super shiny and both versions of the helmet are included in this pack, with the differences in the alpha channel.The Mexico edition features real 22-karat gold leaf, the real one not mine! 

Lando Norris - Mexican GP

Lando Norris 2022 Mexican GP helmet

Norris basically got someone to vandalise his helmet with spray paint. That person was artist Jimmy Pierce.

Sergio Perez - Mexican GP

Sergio Perez 2022 Mexican GP helmet

Checo says this is the most Mexican helmet he's ever done with this luchador-style helmet with el Día de los Muertos inspired skull at the front, and various Papel Picado designs. A lovely livery from MDM Designs. 

GP4: 2022 US GP Helmets (part 1)

Howdy y'all, it's race week in the USA and I expect a flurry of special helmets for this race. It's only Thursday and there's two helmets revealed already. 

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen 2022 US GP helmet

Max has gone blue, red and white for his helmet, replacing the gold he's been running most of the season. There's the blue and red ribbons underneath his usual design. All season, Max has run a star on the rear of his helmet for the Championship that he won last season, and now, fresh off his confirmation as a double World Champion, he's now running two stars on his lid.

Pierre Gasly

Pierre Gasly 2022 US GP helmet

Gasly is back to gold, having run a similar gold design back in Monaco. This time, the gold is super reflective and the French flag is gone. On the top there is a homage to Texas, with the state star prominently displayed

These helmets are painted on Jvinu's templates and shapes, and are ACSPRH compatible as usual. 

(mirror)

GP4: Verstappen's Dutch GP helmet added

 Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen 2022 Dutch GP helmet

Max is going to run a helmet based on his father's (Joss the Boss) design. Max wanted to honour all the hard work Jos put in when he was a kid that culminated in him becoming World Champion last season. The colours are much brighter compared to his dad's helmet and it looks great with Max's lion on the top. 

Thankfully it was quite a quick design to recreate, and I couldn't wait to share it with you. Knowing my luck, he'll not run it in the race. 

Thanks as ever to Jvinu's Schuberth helmet shape and template, without which my work would not be possible.  

Download Link | (mirror)

Over on Race Department, Vullracer has now fully converted my helmets to Assetto Corsa, now with proper map files, and you can download them now https://www.racedepartment.com

GP4: 2022 helmets updated to French GP

Hey F1 fans. Here's another helmet update. 

Sebastian Vettel - British GP

Sebastian Vettel 2022 British GP 'birthday' helmet

It was really sweet that Vettel was surprised by his kids who painted this for their father's birthday. These kid painted helmets are a nightmare for me to recreate, but from a combination of using photos and hand painting parts, I've managed to put this one together. There were not many good photos of the front, surprisingly, so I've taken a little artistic license with that, but otherwise, I've tried to make it as accurate as I can. 

Esteban Ocon - French GP

Esteban Ocon 2022 French GP helmet

Ocon ran a competition to design his helmet for his home race. There were some great and hilarious submissions, but in the end he chose a helmet designed by a kid. It's quite a basic design, and it was tempting to simply draw and fill the shapes, however I wanted to preserve the hand-drawn - felt tip filled imperfections, so I hope I've done this justice. 

Pierre Gasly - French GP

Pierre Gasly 2022 French GP helmet

As is usual these days, Gasly's special helmet is essentially a re-colour of his standard helmet with minor changes. This seasons variation is mostly white with the colours of the tricolour used in the trim. 

Charles Leclerc - French GP

Charles Leclerc 2022 French GP helmet

I'll stick with talking about Charles' helmet rather than about his race. Going with a more white base and, he's gone glittery blue and red for the trim. Other than children designed helmets, helmets featuring lots of photos are the other more difficult helmets for me to recreate, especially if I can't find the photos. Half of them were quite easy to find, the others I had to take off pictures of the helmet. Thankfully there aren't too many pictures, a lot of them are repeated. 

Thanks, as ever, to Jvinu's helmet shapes and templates and the helmets are free to be converted to other ACSPRH compatible games, just include me in the credits. 

Download Link | (mirror)

GP4: 1994 Benetton B194 Ford Cosworth - Australian GP version released

I proudly present to you the 1994 Benetton B194, created from scratch by me. I had previously written about the car and some insights into creating this car on another post, which you can read here:

more info

This car is the sixth car created for the 1994 season in GP4, based on how the car appeared at the Australian GP, with Michael Schumacher and Johnny Herbert at the wheel. Stay tuned for a 1994 mod update with more variations. I also include in this pack an external steering wheel, based on the internal wheel already included in the mod. I've also included a CSM update package for ease of install, obviously you'll need the 1994 Mod v4 installed first. 

So without further ado, here's the links. 

Enjoy!