James May says Top Gear trio are 'a package' after Jeremy Clarkson's departure

 
Team: Richard Hammond (left), Jeremy Clarkson and James May (right) (Picture: BBC)
Rachel Blundy25 March 2015

James May has hinted he and Richard Hammond will not continue as co-hosts of Top Gear after Jeremy Clarkson's departure, saying the three of them come "as a package".

The 52-year-old television presenter today said his future would require "careful thought" and described Clarkson's sacking as "a tragedy".

He did not say whether he had spoken to Hammond about what their next step would be after the BBC's announcement today.

The corporation's internal probe into the incident found that Clarkson did attack producer Oisin Tymon at the Simonstone Hall Hotel in Yorkshire.

Last week it was reported May and Hammond had turned down an offer to continue as hosts of the popular motoring show because they "didn't want to do it without Jeremy".

Speaking to reporters outside his home today, May said he believed Top Gear would continue in "some way", but declined to comment on whether he would be involved.

He said: "It's a tragedy. I'm sorry that what ought to have been a small incident sorted out easily has turned into something big.

"I don't really want to say anything more than that at the moment, I have only known for the past few minutes and if you excuse me I have to write the eBay listing for my Ferrari."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">Gutted at such a sad end to an era. We're all three of us idiots in our different ways but it's been an incredible ride together.— Richard Hammond (@RichardHammond) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/RichardHammond/status/580751120622096384" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-77131-https://twitter.com/RichardHammond/status/580751120622096384" data-vars-event-id="c23">March 25, 2015</a>

Asked if he thought the decision to sack Clarkson was fair, May said: "It is probably within the law and their hands were tied."

He added: "I'm sure Top Gear will continue in some way. It existed before us and it has been reformatted several times."

When asked if he would continue to work on Top Gear, May said: "Well I don't want to talk about that too much but I think we are very much the three of us as a package. It works for very complicated reasons that a lot of people don't fully understand. So that will require a lot of careful thought."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">Reporters outside my house: if you're going to hang around on small streets with your car engines idling all day, don't buy a bloody diesel.— James May (@MrJamesMay) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/MrJamesMay/status/580731382940459008" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-77131-https://twitter.com/MrJamesMay/status/580731382940459008" data-vars-event-id="c23">March 25, 2015</a>

Asked about a possible replacement for Clarkson and who he would like to work with, he said: "Much as I think he's a knob I quite like working with Jeremy."

He added: "Well apparently they have shot him. I've only found this out by prising the information out of various BBC sources, nobody has actually told me officially until a few moments ago when they emailed."

Hammond has described Clarkson's sacking as a "sad end to an era".

He wrote on Twitter this afternoon: "Gutted at such a sad end to an era. We're all three of us idiots in our different ways but it's been an incredible ride together."

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