Jeremy Clarkson snubbed Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen when naming his favourite-ever F1 driver

Jeremy Clarkson overlooked the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher when asked to name his favourite Formula 1 driver.

Clarkson is one of the most well-known presenters in the country after hosting the BBC's Top Gear and Amazon Prime's The Grand Tour alongside Richard Hammond and James May.

The 64-year-old is also a huge F1 fan and has been spotted at various Grands Prix over the last few years.

Despite watching the likes of Hamilton, Verstappen, Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Ayrton Senna, Clarkson's favourite driver never actually won the world title.

Speaking to the Formula 1 website back in 2022, the presenter picked out Gilles Villeneuve as his top choice.

Regarded by many as one of - if not the - fastest drivers of all time, Villeneuve's driving was defined by his fierce determination and aggression to set the fastest lap possible.

The Canadian entered F1 in 1977 with an initial 11th place for McLaren at the 1977 British Grand Prix, before signing with Ferrari later that year.

He finished in second place in the Drivers' Championship in the 1979 season, winning three races, but finished seven points behind team-mate Jody Scheckter.

After an uncompetitive 1980, Ferrari were then dogged by reliability issues in 1981 but Villeneuve still won two races.

The 1982 season was meant to be Villeneuve's big opportunity to become world champion, despite two retirements from the opening two races and being disqualified from third place in the third Grand Prix due to an illegal rear wing.

Second place in the fourth race at San Marino - behind team-mate Didier Pironi - was his first result of the season, although there was huge controversy when Pironi defied a team order to overtake Villeneuve and win the race.

Gilles Villeneuve (R) was one of the best drivers of his generation. Image: Getty

That incident was set to define the championship battle, but Villeneuve was killed two weeks later in a huge qualifying crash at Zolder in Belgium.

The Canadian was attempting to improve on his time to beat Pironi to pole position, but smashed into the back of another car at around 120mph - launching his Ferrari into the air - and suffered a fatal neck fracture from the subsequent landing.

Since his death, the Montreal circuit was renamed as Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in his honour, while his son Jacques won the world championship in 1997.

Pironi, meanwhile, would suffer severe leg injuries in a practice crash at Hockenheim later in the season and never raced in F1 again. That year's Drivers' Championship was won by Williams' Keke Rosberg - the father of 2016 champion Nico.

Clarkson told F1's official website of his support for the elder Villeneuve: "There was the 1979 French Grand Prix in Dijon.

"He was racing for second place with Rene Arnoux. How many times did they hit each other on that last lap, five times? They took it in turns to be knocked off and then came charging back on again.

"It was absolutely fantastic racing and I just thought, 'Okay, he's my favourite racing driver'. I've never really seen anyone race like him since."

"I definitely had pictures of his racing car on the wall. I bought a Ferrari because of Gilles Villeneuve, the 355 - I loved Ferraris because of Gilles Villeneuve."

He added: "I know where I was [when he was killed]. Well, I was watching television.

"I can remember Gilles dying. I know where I was when Senna died: you remember those things for sure."