Jeremy Clarkson calls for Top Gear return despite Freddie Flintoff crash
Jeremy Clarkson has called for Top Gear to return to television, saying "it would be sad if it never came back".
Clarkson was host of the BBC motoring show between 2002 and 2015 along with Richard Hammond and James May.
The trio eventually left Top Gear and started The Grand Tour on Amazon.
Top Gear rested for the "foreseeable future"
In 2023, the BBC revealed Top Gear would be rested for the "foreseeable future".
In a statement at the time, the broadcaster said: "Given the exceptional circumstances, the BBC has decided to rest the UK show for the foreseeable future.
"We know resting the show will be disappointing news for fans, but it is the right thing to do.'
The decision came after former England cricket captain, and then host of Top Gear, Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff was seriously injured in a crash at the show's test track - the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey.
Flintoff was driving an open-topped Morgan Super 3 when it overturned at 40mph, leading to him being airlifted to hospital.
The crash left him with severe facial scarring and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the 47-year-old revealed in a recent Disney+ documentary.
Following the recent release of the documentary series 'Flintoff' on Disney+, in which the former cricketer talks in detail for the first time about his accident, Clarkson has had his say about the future of Top Gear.
The former host, speaking to The Times, said: "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."
Jeremy Clarkson has said electric cars mean Top Gear is needed now more than ever, despite the BBC confirming that it had no plans for the TV show to return https://t.co/VTni8k1OX3
— The Times and The Sunday Times (@thetimes) April 25, 2025
Hammond has also called for Top Gear's return to TV and said he remained optimistic it would be back "at some point in the future".
He said: "I remember watching [Top Gear] as a kid when it was, you know, telling you about what cars, it was a magazine format telling you about the latest cars.
"It's becoming a more important subject because it's tied up with all of our futures.
"As consumers, the choices we make around automotives are of greater significance than ever before, we need to understand them.
RECOMMENDED READING:
James May speaks out after Top Gear rested for 'foreseeable future' by BBC
What happened to Freddie Flintoff in near death Top Gear accident?
Did the BBC end Top Gear because of Freddie Flintoff's crash?
Paddy McGuinness reveals details of his own 'brain rattling' crash on Top Gear
"We need to understand the difference between a full battery electric vehicle, a hybrid, an internal combustion engine running on fossil fuel, an internal combustion engine running on fully synthetic fuel which can be manufactured, or running on hydrogen.
"All of these options are going to be available to us … So any programme that can tell us about that is going to become more important rather than less."
What do you think - should Top Gear return to TV? Let us know in our poll above or the comments below.
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