After claiming two♔ victories from the first four races of the season, Perez sat within three points of Verstappen as he looked to mount a ༺championship challenge.

But six consℱecutive victories for Verstappen, coupled with a run of difficult weekends for Perez, has effectively dashed the Mexican's hopes of winning a maiden world title this year.

Perez hea💃ds into this weeke𝔉nd’s Hungarian Grand Prix a whopping 99 points behind Verstappen.

He now has his sights firmly set on securing runner-up spot in the championship standings, which would mark♍ his best-ever finish in F1.

"In Formula 1, only your position 🌼in Abu Dhabi matters,” Perez told Spanish outlet AS🌳.

“But I am not second in the World Championship by a miracle, I have won races. I🅘’ve had some bad races, but we have everything ahead of us.

“Target no🐽w? Undoubtedly the runner-up in t💎he championship. But I’m only thinking about the Hungarian GP.

”Given Red Bull’s current advantage over the field, Perez will be expected to hold onto second place.But he faces competition from the chasꦗing pack behind, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso just 19 points adrift in third.

Meanwhile, Meಞrcedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who sit✅s fourth, trails Perez by 35 points.