Verstappen deserves place among F1 greats - but who has he really beaten?

Max Verstappen's championship-winning ways have only just begun, according to Formula One legend Fernando Alonso. And more than almost anyone the relentlessly brilliant, Teflon-coated, Kevlar-hard, double-world champion Alonso should know the real deal when he sees it.

Verstappen wrapped up his third successive championship in sweltering Qatar on Saturday, the icing on the cake of a dominant season unmatched in F1 history.

Alonso – who has been chasing a third drivers' title for the last 17 years – was more than happy to lead the chorus of recognition as Verstappen continued his climb through the pantheon of F1’s very greatest names.

Only Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Juan Manuel Fangio sit above him now in terms of world championships won.

At just 26 and with five years remaining on his Red Bull contract many believe Hamilton and Schumacher’s seven-tile haul is well within Verstappen's reach.

Asked if he could compare the Dutchman to legends like Ayrton Senna and Schumacher, Alonso said: “I’ve only been wheel to wheel with Michael but with Michael maybe, yes.”

“And for the next few years he will keep adding championships so we will compare him with Michael even closer in future.”

“When you win so many races – sometimes in tricky weather conditions – when you make no mistakes and deliver the job every weekend it deserves big respect.”

The man himself is pugilistic to an absurd extent, squaring up to one driver in the pit lane and even threatening to attack a journalist.

But he is also unashamedly honest in his self-appraisal: “I never thought I would be on that list [of champions]. Of course you dream of getting to F1 and trying to win a race or maybe get a podium. But to be among those names