Sir Stirling Moss has died at his home in the UK. Widely regarded as the greatest Formula 1 driver to never win the title, Moss was 90 years old.

One of the early Formula 1 greats, Sir Stirling Moss, has died at the age of 90. His wife, Lady Susie, confirmed to Press Association that he passed away peacefully: “It was one lap too many,” she said. “He just closed his eyes.”

Moss’ name is usually amongst the first mentioned when asked about the greatest drivers to never win the Formula 1 World Championship. Having won 16 races during his career, Moss was regarded by five-time World Champion and Mercedes teammate Juan Manuel Fangio as the best driver of his era. Moss and Fangio were teammates between 1955 and 1957, with Fangio beating Moss to the title in each of those years.

Famously, his sportsmanship cost him the title in 1958, when he spoke up to defend Mike Hawthorne at the season finale. Instead of being given a penalty which would have given Moss the title, his defence of Hawthorne resulted in his compatriot winning the prize.

Moss’ career was curtailed by a life-threatening crash at Goodwood in 1962, that left him in a coma for severals weeks. He officially retired after the crash but continued to make sporadic racing appearances until 1981. Out of a total of 529 races during his career, he won 212.

Moss’ health declined in recent years, having taken ill with a chest infection while on a cruise in Singapore in late 2016. He was transferred to a London hospital before being brought home.

In recent years, he met with contemporary Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton to drive laps of Monza in the 1955 Merc and for a chat about winning their home race, the British Grand Prix, over 50 years apart.

Moss is survived by his wife, Lady Susie, son Elliot and daughter Allison.

From all of us at FormulaSpy, we would like to express our sympathies to the family and friends of Sir Stirling Moss. Ar dheis dé go raibh a anam.