Perry McCarthy: driving for 90s non-starters Andrea Moda

F1: Beyond The Grid

karenellenbevan

Leisure, Sports, Technology, Automotive

4.8 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2025

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

He drove for one of the least competitive teams in F1 history. He never started a race. Just making it to Formula 1 was ‘a million to one’ shot for Perry McCarthy. Through extraordinary determination, he did it.

When his raw talent behind the wheel was spotted at his local racetrack, McCarthy set his sights on racing at the top. He worked on a North Sea oil rig to raise money to fund his career. Racing in Formula 3000 and sports cars in America led to a chance in F1 with Andrea Moda – a team which only raced for one season in 1992. When Perry made it to the track, the car either broke down or was too slow to make it through an extra ‘pre-qualifying’ session.

From climbing the motorsport ladder with drivers including Damon Hill, to testing with Michael Schumacher at Benetton, and later becoming the mysterious ‘Stig’ on TV’s Top Gear, Perry tells Tom Clarkson an eye-opening story from a different era of Formula 1.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Of all the drivers in Formula One's long history, none of them has a story quite like Perry McCarthy.
0:12.0	There was a call from Eddie Jordan's solicitor, a guy called Fred Rogers, lovely guy.
0:18.0	And Fred said, hello Perry. He said, I've got a question for you. So I said, yeah,
0:22.4	he said, how would you like to be a Formula One driver? That call put Perry on track for a crazy
0:27.3	ride, driving for statistically one of the worst teams in the 75 year history of the Formula One
0:34.2	World Championship. He never raced. He never even qualified.
0:40.0	I've pulled out of the garage.
0:41.5	I've got to the line.
0:42.5	They've gone, go!
0:43.6	And I've gone across the line,
0:45.4	and the engines cut out.
0:47.4	As soon as I came into Formula One,
0:49.0	I would set records.
0:50.3	I told everybody that, and I did.
0:52.8	The shortest ever attempt of qualifying for a Grand Prix.
0:56.2	Perry went from oil rig worker to F1 driver
0:59.3	to the mysterious black race-suited stig on TV's top gear.
1:04.1	He definitely didn't take the normal racing line.
1:12.1	I'm Tom Clarkson and welcome to F1 Beyond the Green.
1:17.3	It's incredible to look back at the early 90s and think how far the sport has come since then.
1:23.8	The team Perry McCarthy drove for, Andrea Moda, simply couldn't be in F1 today.
1:29.6	Their single season in 1992 was chaotic.
	...

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