Motor racing great Sir Stirling Moss has died at the age of 90

Moss' first Grand Prix victory came in the 1955 British Grand Prix

Sir Stirling Moss has died at the age of 90, his wife has told the PA news agency. See PA story AUTO Moss Photo: John Stillwell/PA Wire.

Motor racing great Sir Stirling Moss has died at the age of 90.

His wife Lady Moss told the PA news agency he died peacefully at his London home following a long illness.

"It was one lap too many," she said. "He just closed his eyes."

Though Moss famously never won the Formula One title, he finished runner-up four times and came third three times in a career during which he won 16 Grands Prix.

His sportsmanship cost him the title in 1958 when he defended the actions of rival Mike Hawthorne following a spin at the Portuguese Grand Prix, sparing Hawthorne a six-point penalty. Hawthorne went on to beat Moss to the title by a single point.

Moss' first Grand Prix victory came in the 1955 British Grand Prix at Aintree as he became the first British driver to win the event.

In an age when racing drivers competed in several different disciplines alongside Formula One, Moss won a total of 212 of the 529 races he entered in his 14-year career, which began in 1948.