Jeremy Clarkson's original name for iconic Top Gear character 'The Stig' was rejected by ex-F1 driver

A former Formula 1 driver rejected Jeremy Clarkson’s original name for iconic Top Gear character The Stig.

The Stig was first introduced in 2002 when Andy Wilman and Clarkson came up with the idea to relaunch Top Gear.

Since then, The Stig has often been in charge of setting lap times in supercars which were being tested by the Top Gear presenters.

However, as revealed by Perry McCarthy, a former F1 driver who played the original Stig, Clarkson wanted to call the character by another name.

Speaking on The Chris Moyles Show back in 2019, McCarthy said: “I’d written a book back in 2002 about my career coming all the way through motor racing and getting to Formula 1 with pretty much no money.

“Jeremy [Clarkson] and a lot of friends from Formula 1 were at the book launch and Jeremy said, Listen we’re bringing Top Gear back, we’ve got this great idea for you! You’re gonna be all dressed in black - because first, Stiggy was all in black - so black gloves, black crash helmet, black overalls… He said, we’re gonna call you the Gimp!”

He continued: “I said, ‘No, you’re not son!’ They were really keen on it, seriously. In the end, thank God, they settled on The Stig, which is what they used to call the junior kids at their school.

“They were real keen on calling it The Gimp and I just thought I really don't want that tag!”

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Back in 1992, McCarthy drove for the Andrea Moda F1 team but never made it into a race.

On the back of that season, he switched to sportscars and took part in the 24 Hours Le Mans on five occasions between 1996 and 2003.

Speaking in a recent interview with Fannation, McCarthy spoke about the impact of playing The Stig had on his career.

He said: “All I want to do sometimes is just be in Perry world before I get into the car. But sometimes you've got to communicate with people.

“I thought, 'well actually, the Stig doesn't have to worry about this'. He's this thing that, not just doesn't want to communicate, doesn't know how to, doesn't even understand what people are, what food is, what lifestyle is, nothing.”

McCarthy added: “You just got this thing that only understands sitting behind a steering wheel. So what I was doing straight away was as soon as people started talking to this thing. He just folded his arms and walked off because it had zero interest in that, so that was the kind of... second side of a race driver that the Stig was allowed to be.”