Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, plans to ban any changes to F1 driver helmet designs during the course of the season this year. Drivers will be forced to stick to a single design for the entire season in a bid to make it easier for their fans to identify them on track.

Unlike the Senna days when a drivers’ helmet design was considered to be part of his appeal, todays’ F1 drivers regularly change helmet designs – some at every race.

But, according to a report by Autosport, they will now be forced to choose one design and stick to it for the entire F1 season – a decision which was made at a meeting of the F1 Commission on Tuesday. The decision does still need to be ratified by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council before the start of the season but looks set to go through.

Sebastian Vettel is well known for switching between designs – often using more than one per grand prix weekend. He however, already made it clear that he intends sticking to his new white helmet design since joining the Ferrari F1 team.

The race at Monaco has also become well known for drivers bringing one-off novelty designs including diamond encrusted helmets and tributes to former legends. A good few drivers often celebrate milestones in their careers with new helmet designs too, but it seems that none of this will be allowed any longer.

The prospect of this new rule has created loads of debate on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks with former F1 driver Alex Wurz even saying that the sport is starting to take control over drivers’ individuality.

Many fans are baffled at the thought of this move, and how it would possibly make the sport more appealing but unfortunately the decision lays entirely with the FIA.

We will report and updates as and when we receive them.