A British university study claims to have uncovered the answer to a question that preoccupies the minds of petrol heads - who is the greatest Formula One driver of all time?

After pouring over the stats the University of Sheffield's Methods Institute has produced a drivers' Top 100 chart with Juan Manuel Fangio on top of the all-time podium.

Leicester City's extraordinary rise to the top of the Premier League has been recognized with the inclusion of three Foxes stars -- Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N'Golo Kante -- on the shortlist for the Professional Footballers' Association Players' Player of the Year award.

The Leicester trio make up 50 percent of a six-strong panel that also includes Tottenham Hotspur's 22-goal striker Harry Kane, West Ham's France star Dimitri Payet and Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil.

Aston Villa have decided to scrap their player of the season awards for the 2015/16 campaign, with the club on the cusp of relegation from the Premier League.

The Birmingham club, bottom of the table and 15 points adrift of safety, will be relegated on Saturday if Norwich avoid defeat against Sunderland or if they themselves lose at Manchester United.

Angry fans of seven-time champions AC Milan have turned on club president Silvio Berlusconi for sacking Sinisa Mihajlovic and appointing yet another coach with no top level experience.

"Mihajlovic is just the latest innocent (coach) to pay for the mismanagement of the club, all with the complicit approval of President Berlusconi," a prominent supporters group said on Wednesday.

Cristiano Ronaldo reveled in the glory of scoring a hat-trick to inspire a stunning Real Madrid comeback to reach the Champions League semi-finals with a 3-2 aggregate victory over Wolfsburg on Tuesday.

The Spanish giants made amends for their shock 2-0 defeat in Germany six days ago as Ronaldo struck twice in just over 60 seconds early on before sealing the comeback with a trademark free-kick 13 minutes from time for a 3-0 victory on the night.

Five talking points ahead of this week's Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai:

1. Will the real Lewis Hamilton please stand up?

Paris Saint-Germain have some serious soul-searching to do after once again coming up short in the Champions League as they exited the competition at the hands of Manchester City on Tuesday.

A 1-0 defeat in England saw PSG lose 3-2 on aggregate as they became the first team to lose in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in four consecutive seasons.

Three-time world figure skating champion and Japanese national sweetheart Mao Asada has declared for the first time that she will aim to compete at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.

Asada, 25, took a year off after winning the World Figure Skating Championships in 2014.

The Indiana Pacers clinched the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference with a 102-90 victory over New York on Tuesday, avoiding a daunting opening postseason with Cleveland.

The Pacers win, coupled with the Miami Heat's 99-93 victory at Detroit, means Indiana will now play second seeded Toronto in the first round of the playoffs.

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini backed his players to go on and win the Champions League after they overcame Paris Saint-Germain to reach the semi-finals for the first time.

Having procured two away goals in last week's 2-2 first-leg draw, City went into Tuesday's home leg in a position of strength, but it was not until Kevin De Bruyne struck in the 76th minute that their passage to the last four was secure.