The controversial firing of Jeremy Clarkson, the host of the long-running BBC show "Top Gear," was a mistake, the television station's former director-general Mark Thompson has claimed.

Clarkson's BBC contract was not renewed by the British broadcasting company's bosses, and was effectively fired on March 2015 after it was reported that he punched a producer during an altercation that took place that same month, according to Auto Week.

It all began when Clarkson, along with his co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May, arrived late than expected in Yorkshire from the "Top Gear" track. Clarkson was reportedly furious at producer Oisin Tymon failed to set up a hot meal for the host and that was when he abused the producer physically and verbally. The British media dubbed the incident as a "fracas."

"Clarkson can be a deeply objectionable individual, and I say that as a friend," Thompson said in an interview with The Sunday Times. He added, however, that people should not punch their co-workers and that friends who do are "hard to keep."

Thompson left the television station before the incident, and he strongly feels that the BBC bosses should have kept Clarkson and stopped all three hosts from leaving the show. "I would say his pungent, transgressive, slightly out-of-control talent was something the BBC could ill afford to lose. He spoke to people who didn't find much else in the BBC," he said.

Clarkson hosted the popular show since 1998 and co-hosted alongside Hammond and May since 2002. All three hosts left the show after Clarkson's contract was not renewed. Longtime producer and friend Andy Wilman also left, and all four are now behind the Amazon Prime show "The Grand Tour."

After the station aired a shortened season of the "Top Gear," BBC Radio 2 and TV host Chris Evans took over the reins from Clarkson. The 2016 relaunch of the show, however, got mixed reviews from critics and fans alike.

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