F1 drivers’ lap times compared on Top Gear with Daniel Ricciardo beating Lewis Hamilton

Follow us on Google Discover

First airing in 1977, the BBC’s Top Gear stood as one of the most popular shows in the whole of the UK.

The car programme is more well-known for its revamped version that started in 2002. Fans loved the antics of presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May as they reviewed several supercars and completed various challenges around the world.

One of Top Gear’s most popular segments was a ‘Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car’. Each episode, a celebrity would be invited onto the show to complete a lap around their Dunsfold track and be placed on a final leaderboard.

Naturally, there were multiple crossovers between Top Gear and Formula 1, such as Hammond driving, or at least attempting to drive, Fernando Alonso’s title-winning Renault. On occasion, an F1 driver would come into the studio and have a crack at the Dunsfold track as well.

Daniel Ricciardo was the fastest F1 driver on Top Gear

Several drivers made appearances on Top Gear as they tried to beat a lap time set by the show’s iconic racing driver, The Stig. A silent, white-helmeted and white-suited figure who never revealed his identity, until he was later found out to be Ben Collins.

The Stig set a time of 1.44.4 in the Suzuki Liana, and many F1 drivers tried and failed to beat the time. World champions Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell did not have the pace, while Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Mark Webber got unlucky with poor weather conditions.

Despite driving on a wet and oily surface, Hamilton came within three tenths of The Stig’s time, which was set in the dry, in 2008. It was not until Rubens Barrichello came onto the show that the 1.44.4 benchmark was finally beaten.

The Brazilian went just a tenth quicker than The Stig in the Liana, but he officially became the first F1 driver to beat him. He celebrated by brilliantly wearing a T-shirt that read ‘I beat The Stig’, and handed his fellow Top Gear appearance makers a shirt that said ‘The Stig beat me!’

But Barrichello would soon not be alone in beating The Stig. Sebastian Vettel set the fastest lap of a 1.44.0 when he came onto the show during his Red Bull days. That was emphatically beaten by Hamilton on his second attempt in 2013, shortly after joining Mercedes, with a 1.42.9.

But even that lap was beaten by Red Bull star Daniel Ricciardo. The Aussie went a stunning seven tenths quicker with 1.42.2, and stands as the fastest F1 driver to appear on Top Gear in the Reasonably-Priced Car.

READ MORE: How Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari mindset is worlds apart from Michael Schumacher

What James May said about Lewis Hamilton after appearing on Top Gear

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, May was full of praise for Hamilton’s talent, and revealed what The Stig said about his appearance on Top Gear.

“Lewis Hamilton is the fastest person ever around our track. We used to have a separate board for Formula 1 drivers and former Formula 1 drivers because otherwise it wasn’t fair, but we haven’t done one recently.

“He was brilliant though, which is quite reassuring, because there’s always a little bit of you that thinks ‘well is it really the driver or is it the car or is it the size of the tool kit or the size of the budget or something?’ but no, he was good.

“Even the Stig said – in Stig language, which only a few people can understand – that he was phenomenally good at driving even an old snot-box like our reasonably-priced car, and he was only 22 then.”