As everyone suspected, BBC’s decision to sack Jeremey Clarkson over the ‘fracas’ incident has sparked a media firestorm, with Sky News catching up with Top Gear co-host James May to get his first reaction.

May told a reporter that he learned about Clarkson’s firing from various BBC sources as no one has officially informed him about this development yet. He said it was a “tragedy”.

“What ought to have been a small incident, sorted out easily, turned into something big,” he said.

May added that he was sure that Top Gear would “continue in some way” but he could not say if he and Richard Hammond would be part of it because they “come as a package” and “It works for very complicated reasons that a lot of people don’t fully understand. So that will require a lot of careful thought.”

While BBC Director general Tony Hall said that he wanted to “renew” the show for next year, the contracts of both May and Hammond run out at the end of this month.

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