Fernando Alonso has hailed Max Verstappen as Formula One’s best driver since Michael Schumacher – with the Dutchman on the brink of clinching his third world crown. The 26-year-old needs to score only three points in Saturday’s sprint race in Qatar to complete a hat-trick of world titles. Lewis Hamilton has won a record 103 races and stands on seven world titles with Schumacher. But Alonso, 42, omitted the British driver when asked if Verstappen must now be ranked alongside the sport’s modern-day greats. “I’ve only been wheel-to-wheel with Michael, but with Michael maybe, yes,” said the double world champion. “And for the next few years he will keep adding championships so we will compare him with Michael even closer in the future.” Following a Red Bull blip in Singapore, Verstappen returned to his all-conquering best at the last round in Japan to take his 13th win from the 16 rounds staged so far. Since Verstappen claimed his maiden title, at Hamilton’s expense, at the controversial season-ending Abu Dhabi race in 2021, Verstappen has won 28 of the 38 races staged – including a record run of 10 straight victories earlier this year. Hamilton, third in the championship in his Mercedes and 210 points adrift of Verstappen, said: “I wouldn’t rank him because ranking people is an opinion-based thing. “But he has earned his position, and he has done an amazing job with the package he has. Him and the team have been phenomenal and faultless this year. “They have raised the bar and as a team we have to look at that, and look at the areas where we can be better and match that and compete. “I do hope at some stage we can fight them and have them defending, but they should enjoy the moment because they have worked for it.” Verstappen will be the first driver to clinch the championship in a sprint race if he finishes sixth or higher in Saturday’s 19-lap dash at the Lusail International Circuit. He will become the 11th driver to have won more than two world titles, emulating the likes of Sir Jackie Stewart and Ayrton Senna with three. His dominance has been compared to Schumacher’s stranglehold on the sport at the turn of the century. Verstappen said: “Michael’s achievements were incredible, but when he was achieving these kind of things it was seen as normal because it was an amazing driver with an amazing team and everything came together. Maybe people got bored of it? But it was incredible to have achieved those kind of things. “I don’t think about reaching seven. We will see year-by-year what happens, but I am very proud. I live in the moment and I want to achieve more. “I know when I stop racing I will be able to look back and I will be able to appreciate it more but it wasn’t something I ever thought was achievable when I was a little kid.” Read More Max Verstappen pips Oscar Piastri to pole after tense qualifying for Japanese GP Lando Norris narrows gap on Max Verstappen at final practice in Japan Max Verstappen returns to form in Japanese Grand Prix practice Aston Martin boss reacts to Andretti’s bid to become 11th F1 team How can Max Verstappen win 2023 F1 world championship in Qatar? British F2 star to make F1 debut with Haas

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Elle Fanning has detailed how her body has “creepily formed and shifted” so that she is now more comfortable wearing corsets while filming The Great. The 25-year-old, who plays Catherine the Great in the popular Hulu period series, said she has “got used to” wearing the restrictive garments. Fanning is currently starring in the third season of the satirical show alongside Nicholas Hoult, who plays Peter III of Russia, and Gillian Anderson, who plays her mother, Joanna Elisabeth. In a new interview with Insider, she was asked whether wearing corsets gets any easier as many of her costumes involve them. “It actually does, I will say. It does get more bearable,” she told the publication. “I have got used to them now.” Fanning added that at the start of filming for each season, she has to readjust to wearing the elaborate, confining undergarments that are designed to cinch the waist. “And then your body creepily forms and shifts and it becomes easier,” she continued. “Sometimes, yeah, they’re not the most comfortable.” Nevertheless, the Maleficent star has adapted to wearing corsets so well that she can “do anything in a corset”, she said. The elaborate outfits, hair and makeup showcased in The Great won the series an Emmy for outstanding period costumes in 2022. Costume designer Sharon Long previously detailed the fashion choices for Fanning’s character, which often exaggerate her figure. Speaking to IndieWire last year, Long said: “The size of [Catherine’s] skirt was an interesting device to use. We kept her as tiny and tight at the top as possible and her skirts as large as we could go, and she moves through the set and takes up space.” Fanning recently spoke out about the negative feedback she once received after she was rejected from a big franchise film. “I didn’t get a part once for something big because – it might not have just been this reason, but this was the feedback that I heard – was because I didn’t have enough Instagram followers at the time,” she told Josh Horowitz on his podcast Happy Sad Confused. “That’s something I firmly don’t believe in, for not getting a part. Fanning is the younger sister of child star Dakota Fanning. She has starred in hit films such as Super 8 and We Bought a Zoo, as well as the TV series The Girl From Plainville. Read More Elle Fanning says she was rejected from big franchise film over Instagram follower count Rebel Wilson shares first pictures of baby Royce’s face to mark first Mother’s Day TikTok Tattoogate: Award-winning tattoo artist vows to ‘fix the wrongs’ for woman at centre of scandal Fans defend Kyla Pratt for dressing casually to The Little Mermaid premiere 11 lightweight SPFs your skin will love Beyonce kicks of Renaissance tour in string of glamorous outfits

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