Chris Evans has quit as the main presenter of Top Gear after just one series.

"Stepping down from Top Gear," he confirmed, somewhat dejectedly, on Twitter. "Gave it my best shot but sometimes that's not enough. The team are beyond brilliant, I wish them all the best."

He faced a torrent of criticism from fans throughout his brief time on the show, Clarkson et al's boots simply proving too big to fill.

"Full steam ahead then with Radio 2, CarFest, Children In Need, 500 Words and whatever else we can dream up in the future," he added.

The former TFI Friday host elaborated on his tweets in an official statement, which read: “I have never worked with a more committed and driven team than the team I have worked with over the last twelve months. I feel like my standing aside is the single best thing I can now do to help the cause. I remain a huge fan of the show, always have been, always will be. I will continue to focus on my radio show and the allied events that it encompasses.”

Statement from Mark Linsey, Director, BBC Studios on Top Gear: “Chris is stepping down from his duties on Top Gear. He says he gave it his best shot doing everything he could to make the show a success. He firmly believes that the right people remain, on both the production team and presenting team to take the show forward and make it the hit we want it to be. The new series has so far notched up over 30m views in the UK alone and has already been sold to 130 territories worldwide.

There is no official confirmation yet on whether Matt LeBlanc and the rest of the new presenters will be staying on, but Evans and Linsey's words certainly suggest so.

The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Show all 21 1 /21 The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Chris Evans hosting the new Top Gear, replacing Jeremy Clarkson BBC Worldwide The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Damian Lewis crawls out of his car after a ride with The Stig BBC World Wide/Mark Yeoman The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Matt LeBlanc has taken over co-hosting duties from Richard Hammond and James May BBC World Wide/Jeff Spicer The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Damian Lewis seemed to enjoy his time on Top Gear BBC World Wide/Mark Yeoman The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Damian Lewis and The Stig BBC World Wide/Mark Yeoman The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Sharleen Spiteri and The Stig BBC World Wide/Mark Yeoman The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Top Gear introduces some special guests for the second episode BBC World Wide/Jeff Spicer The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Testing out a McLaren 675 LT BBC World Wide/Mark Yeoman The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Eddie Jordan, Seasick Steve and Sharleen Spiteri on Top Gear BBC World Wide/Jeff Spicer The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Chris Evans hits the track on Top Gear BBC Worldwide/Mark Yeoman The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures It's time for a South African challenge on Top Gear BBC Worldwide/Desmond Louw The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Chris Evans and Matt LeBLanc take Top Gear to Blackpool BBC Worldwide/Mark Yeoman The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures It's tug of war time in Blackpool during the first new episode of Top Gear BBC Worldwide/Mark Yeoman The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc have a lot to live up to on Top Gear BBC Worldwide The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Seasick Steve and Tinie Tempah join Chris Evans for an off-road race on Top Gear BBC Worldwide/Desmond Louw The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Matt LeBlanc on the set of the new Top Gear BBC WORLDWIDE The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures The Stig with the Mini Cooper used as part of new segment Star in a Rallycross Car BBC WORLDWIDE The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Actor Jesse Eisenberg with Stig BBC WORLDWIDE The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Chef Gordon Ramsay with Stig BBC WORLDWIDE The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Jesse Eisenberg does a lap of the Top Gear circuit BBC WORLDWIDE The post-Clarkson Top Gear era in pictures Jesse Eisenberg and Gordon Ramsay in the Top Gear studio BBC WORLDWIDE

Evans felt doomed to fail on the show before it started, such was the loyalty among fans to Clarkson, Hammond and May in spite of the 'fracas'. The revamped show initially drew fairly strong ratings once iPlayer figures were taken into account (something Evans was very vocal about), but was largely mauled by critics and obliterated by fans, who found Evans' enthusiasm forced. Ratings then waned, leading to an all-time low with the final episode of series 22.

LeBlanc faired better in terms of audience response and he will likely remain with the show, either joined by a yet-to-be-announced new co-host or serving as the sole main presenter.

This is all great news for Clarkson's Amazon Prime show, The Grand Tour, which is now poised to see the trio return to glory following the BBC's failed Evans experiment.

The Telegraph cites a BBC source as saying Evans had 'wanted to quit for at least a week'. It also claims a friend commented: "Every single day he's been accused of something else. In the end you just think, 'f*ck off'".

New Top Gear series clips

Top Gear's original Stig, Perry McCarthy, told the BBC: "It's sad for Chris but personally I was expecting such an announcement, I wasn't expecting it this quickly but I did think that Chris would step down from it.

"Chris is an enormously popular radio presenter and TV show host but he hasn't quite gelled with this show, he's not really gelling with the viewers.

"It must be a little bit painful for him to receive this reaction from everybody and I don't think he'd want to continue, I probably wouldn't want to continue if I was getting constant criticism either."

Update - Co-host Chris Harris has commented (obliquely):