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Richard Hammond has called for the BBC to put Top Gear back on the air.
The iconic motoring show was taken off air after host Freddie Flintoff was left with life-changing injuries and scars after a near-fatal crash while filming on one of the show’s test tracks in December 2022.
The BBC later made the decision to axe the longrunning programme – which first aired in 1977 – and reached a financial settlement with Freddie.
Now Hammond, who suffered his own horrific injuries after an accident while filming Top Gear, has insisted a return needs to be on the cards, although he has ‘no power’ to make it happen.
‘Yeah. I have absolutely no power over it whatsoever, but yes of course it will [come back],’ he told Good Morning Britain.
‘The show’s 40-odd years old, we were temporary custodians of it, it went through other iterations. It’s off air at the moment, it’s been off-air and come back before.’
Hammond insisted the current climate around transport – particularly with debates over electric vehicles – means there has ‘never been a more exciting time to talk about the subject’.
He added: ‘It has to happen, and we as consumers are part of that process.’
He joined in 2002 with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, as the trio formed an iconic partnership over the next 15 years, but time came to an end after Clarkson was sacked by the BBC for an ‘unprovoked physical and verbal attack’ on a producer.
Hammond admitted if Top Gear did return in any form, it would ‘probably not [be] the one we made’.
In 2006, he was involved in a near-fatal crash while filming the programme, when the front-right tyre of the Vampire Dragster he was driving failed while going at 319mph.
He was in a coma for two weeks and suffered a brain injury, and has spoken how he is still triggered by the horrific crash.
On GMB today, he admitted while he ‘wouldn’t stake claim’ to the event, he did have a feeling of ‘oh no, not again’ after Freddie’s own accident.
‘I’ve been there,’ he pointed out. ‘I only wish Freddie all the best, it’ll be an ongoing recovery.’
Clarkson, who went on to front The Grand Tour with Hammond and May after their Top Gear exit, has also called for the show to return.
Speaking to The Times, he pointed out that Top Gear was ‘necessary’ in the 50s because ‘car companies were trying new things… and you needed people to steer you through the complexity’.
He added: ‘It would be sad if it never came back, that would be very sad.
‘There’s room for a car programme at the moment because cars are changing so fast and electrical cars are coming along and nobody really understands what’s a good one and what isn’t.’
Top Gear is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.