Lewis Hamilton on the Top Gear track

We've already seen how Hamilton struggles when the pressure is on in Formula 1. So, what's going to happen when he heads out to tackle the legendary Top Gear test track in one of the industry's most "iconic" rides—the Suzuki Liana? Is he actually any faster than Damon Hill, Nigel Mansell, or Jenson Button?

This Sunday, USA Network, Top Gear.

http://www.topgear.com/content/news/stories/2462/

driftingbison4 said:We've already seen how Hamilton struggles when the pressure is on in Formula 1. So, what's going to happen when he heads out to tackle the legendary Top Gear test track in one of the industry's most "iconic" rides—the Suzuki Liana? Is he actually any faster than Damon Hill, Nigel Mansell, or Jenson Button?

This Sunday, USA Network, Top Gear.

http://www.topgear.com/content/news/stories/2462/

None of the celebrities or professional drivers featured as guests has managed to beat The Stig, who never speaks and hides his identity under his crash helmet.

He is billed as a "tame racing driver" by the show and speculation about his identity has centred on former Formula 1 drivers such as Damon Hill and Julian Bailey.

But Hamilton has a good excuse for not beating him - the track was wet from a rainstorm and another car had leaked oil on it earlier that day.

The conditions made it almost impossible to overwhelm The Stig's record time of 1min 44.4sec - but Lewis only narrowly missed out.

The previous closest challenger was Nigel Mansell with 1min 44.6sec.

NBC refused to reveal Hamilton's time before the show goes out at 8pm tonight but speculation was rife that he now holds second place.

All presenter Jeremy Clarkson would says was that Hamilton had been "very, very fast".

Top Gear's Andy Wilman, who was involved in editing the programme, said: "I still keep replaying Lewis's second-to-last corner because I've never seen a piece of driving quite like it.

"The world is governed by the rules of physics but he just seems to have his own set."

Despite his efforts, Hamilton remained unhappy with his performance. Wilman said: "He asked if he could come back and set a dry time.

"You could tell he meant it because he was saying how if the appointed day was wet, the deal was he could cancel but if it was dry, he'd be there."

What an idiot. I was watching Webber out there and the guy spent the whole time just messing around in the car; I can't stand those hyper-competitive types. And everyone knows who The Stig is. They should at least know that.

wiredfalcon2 said:What an idiot. I was watching Webber out there and the guy spent the whole time just messing around in the car; I can't stand those hyper-competitive types. And everyone knows who The Stig is. They should at least know that.

He actually drove it pretty well, honestly, and I don't see why anyone would call him an idiot for that, but hey, just my two cents.🤷

wiredfalcon2 said:What an idiot. I was watching Webber out there and the guy spent the whole time just messing around in the car; I can't stand those hyper-competitive types. And everyone knows who The Stig is. They should at least know that.

I can't help but think back to that one Stig who famously remarked, "Left foot for the clutch, right foot for steering!"😉

So, who actually is The Stig? Or are they even still around? 😁
From what I’ve been reading online, nobody can seem to agree on it.

His name's Perry. Every now and then, Julian swaps him out due to scheduling stuff. At least until around 2005 or whatever.

You really need to step outside your bubble and check out the latest updates 🙂

Ever since "Top Gear" relaunched back in 2002 with Clarkson, May and The Hamster, there have been two "Stigs". Originally, we had the "Black Stig," who sported a black racing suit. We now know that this Stig was actually Formula 1 driver Perry McCarthy. He eventually spilled the beans in his book "flat Brok", and shortly after, the character was essentially "killed off" at the beginning of series three. In that episode, he drove way too fast off the deck of an aircraft carrier and couldn't stop in time. It's hard to say if those two things are linked, but I'd bet my life the Top Gear producers weren't thrilled about him coming forward.

After that, the show introduced a new look: the "White Stig" in all-white gear. It is the identity of this newer Stig that remains shrouded in mystery. A lot of fans suspect that "White Stig" isn't just one single Formula 1 test driver, but rather a rotating cast of whoever is free to film on a given day. This theory is given added weight by the recent Winter Olympics special when the driver performing the ski-jump stunt—supposedly "The Stig"—was identified by local Swedish papers as just some local snowmobile racer. Plenty of Formula 1 drivers have sat in for the "star in a reasonably priced car" segment, yet they all dodge the question or deny it entirely, much like Damon Hill. The current theory as espoused by " Daily Express is that Formula 1 driver Julian Bailey is The Stig, but honestly, nobody truly knows. And that's exactly how they want it!

What exactly did I say that was so wrong? Look, I said it used to be Perry, now I have no clue who it is, and honestly, I couldn't tell you exactly which year things changed—maybe around 2005, but I’m not making any promises on that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtPkubgKH0o