Richard Hammond escaped car crash seconds before being 'incinerated'

The presenter was filming scenes for The Grand Tour in Switzerland when his car plummeted down a hill and flipped over

This photo issued by Freuds shows the car that was involved in a crash where Richard Hammond escaped serious injury, in Switzerland (Freuds via AP)

The Grand Tour's producer Andy Wilman has now elaborated on the seriousness of Richard Hammond's car crash, with the presenter having been air-lifted to hospital while filming a Swiss mountain race for the show.

The car reportedly plummeted down the hill, flipped over, and burst into flames, with the 47-year-old former Top Gear presenter thankfully able to crawl out of the wreckage and to safety; he is now being treated for a fractured knee.

"When they saw the wreckage on fire they thought Richard was dead. It was really bad," Wilman told the Sunday Mirror. "If Richard had been a few seconds slower getting out, he would have been incinerated. They were staggered he had got out of it alive, because there was just nothing left."

He added that Hammond had been left "very shaken" by the accident, which took place in the town of St. Gallen in north-east Switzerland, on a road closed for the Bergrennen Hemberg race; the presenter was driving a Rimac Concept One supercar worth £2 million at the time.

"He has been very lucky. It’s a miracle really and certainly another one of his lives gone," Wilman added. Hammond had previously been seriously injured in a high-speed car crash in 2006.

Co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who was also present for the Switzerland shoot, described it as the "biggest" and "most frightening" crash he had ever seen, tweeting, "Thankfully, Richard seems to be mostly OK."

A spokesperson for The Grand Tour stated: "Richard was conscious and talking, and climbed out of the car himself before the vehicle burst into flames. He was flown by air ambulance to hospital in St Gallen to be checked over – revealing a fracture to his knee. Nobody else was in the car or involved in the accident, and we’d like to thank the paramedics on site for their swift response. The cause of the crash is unknown and is being investigated."