British motor-racing great Sir Stirling Moss has died at the age of 90.

Moss died peacefully at his London home following a long illness.

“It was one lap too many,” his wife Lady Moss said. “He just closed his eyes.”

Acclaimed as the “greatest driver never to win the world championship”, Moss took the chequered flag at 212 of the 529 races he took part in during his 14-year career, which began in 1948.

He was runner-up in Formula One’s drivers’ championship on four occasions and came third three times in a career during which he won 16 grands prix.

Moss retired in 1962 after a heavy crash at Goodwood which left him in a coma for a month.

He was knighted in the New Year Honours list in 2000 for services to motor racing.