British motor racing legend Sir Stirling Moss has died at the age of 90 following a long illness.

He never won a Formula One World Championship, but is widely regarded as the greatest driver to have never done so.

Moss retired from public life in January 2018 because of ongoing health problems.

"It was one lap too many, he just closed his eyes," said his wife Lady Moss.

"He died as he lived, looking wonderful. He simply tired in the end and he just closed his beautiful eyes and that was that."

Moss previously spent 134 days in hospital after suffering a chest infection while on holiday in Singapore in December 2016.

Moss' former team Mercedes said motorsport had "lost not only a true icon and a legend, but a gentleman", while 1996 F1 champion Damon Hill said Moss "launched all the other careers of British racing drivers who went on to become world champions".

Three-time F1 world champion Jackie Stewart, who came into the sport shortly after Moss' retirement in 1961, said:

"He walked like a racing driver should walk, he talked like a racing driver, he looked like a racing driver and he set a standard that I think has been unmatched since he retired."

Moss won 16 of the 66 F1 races he competed in from 1951 to 1961 and became the first British driver to win a home grand prix in 1955 at Aintree.

He famously lost out on the F1 title in 1958 to compatriot Mike Hawthorn after vouching for his rival and preventing him being disqualified when he was accused of reversing on track in the late-season Portuguese Grand Prix.

Four times a runner-up in the F1 drivers' championship, he was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1961 and was knighted in 2000.

Together with his fine F1 career, Moss was regarded as a motor racing all-rounder and racked up a total of 212 victories in 529 races in all categories.

He was an outstanding rally driver and in 1955 set a new course record in winning the famous Mille Miglia, a 1,000-mile race around Italy.

Moss was effectively forced to retire from top-level motorsport in 1962 after a crash at Goodwood left him in a coma for a month and partially paralysed for six months.

However, he continued to race in historic cars and legends events until the age of 81.

Moss is survived by his third wife, Susie, their son Elliot, and daughter Allison from an earlier marriage.

The British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) said "no-one could have been prouder" to be part of the organisation than Moss, who was its longest-serving member.

"In the history of motor racing, not just in his home country but also wherever he raced around the world, Sir Stirling held a unique status, which continued throughout his life, long after he retired from his front line racing career," said the BRDC.

"He was universally recognised, following the retirement of the great Juan Manuel Fangio in 1958, as the racing driver who set the standards by which all other drivers were judged, whether in Formula 1 or international sports car racing.

"His versatility and competitive instincts made him a formidable competitor in any race."

To be a legend of the sport without any world titles speaks for talent itself, but Moss' legacy is perhaps unrivalled anywhere else in the sport. He raced until 81 but more importantly, paved the way for the huge success of British drivers who followed, from Jackie Stewart to Damon Hill and now to Lewis Hamilton, who posted his own message on social media.

When racing fans think of their legends, Sir Stirling will be amongst the very greatest.