WORLD champion Lewis Hamilton has led the tributes to racing great Sir Stirling Moss.

He tweeted: “Today we say goodbye to Sir Stirling Moss, the racing legend. I certainly will miss our conversations. I am truly grateful to have had these special moments with him. Sending my prayers and thoughts to his family. May he rest in peace”.

Hamilton added on his Instagram: “I think it’s important that we celebrate his incredible life and the great man he was. Saying goodbye is never easy and can be sad but he will always be here, in our memories and will always be such a huge part of British Motorsports Heritage.

“To be honest, it was such a unusual pairing, our friendship. Two people from massively different times and backgrounds but we clicked and ultimately found that the love for racing we both shared made us comrades. I am truly grateful to have had these special moments with him.

Former world champion Damon Hill told Radio Five Live: “He epitomised the idea of a racing driver. The guy cocked a snook at danger and took on an incredibly difficult challenge and prevailed. He was a winner.

“I think you can be a little bit overawed by the forefathers and people who have been before you. You’re aware they set a standard that you have to aspire to or uphold.

“He was not always positive in his praise of me but mostly he was, and I certainly held on to his ideas and the ideals that he raced by and competed by.

“He that sort of Corinthian ethos, that was something that he set in train and others tried to aspire to that later on.”

Three-time champion Sir Jackie Stewart, who came into the sport shortly after Moss’ retirement, said: “He walked like a racing driver should walk, he talked like a racing driver, he looked like a racing driver and he set a standard that I think has been unmatched since he retired.”