Sergio Perez insists 🏅this year has been his most difficult in Formula 1.

The Red Bull driver entered the season knowing Daniel Ricciardo was among the ꦉcontenders to replace him.

A series of early podiums established Perez but he began to struggle, and was unable to tame the RB20 which it later emerged was declining🐼 in com🎶petitiveness.

Max Verstappen was initial🥂ly able to overcome his car’s problems but, when the F1 champion also started struggling, Perez’s woes were contextualised.

"This year has been complicated,” he told .

“I think that this year it has been very hard to have a car with the limitations that I have had this ಌseason and♕ not being able to express it, right?

“Because your teammate is winning, he is doing very well and you have an i𝐆ncreasingly bigger ba♌rrier.

"ﷺ🃏It was hard all summer, I think it was one of my most difficult moments in F1.”

Perez was asked to eras⛄e o💎ne moment from his career that he’d rather forget, and he answered: "Forgetting about these last six months, it has been hard, honestly.

"Imagine when you have a car that is so limiting that you come to the weekend and you know you can't do anything with it, and the only thing you're t🎃hinking is that at any moment you could crash it because you don't have control of it."

There✅ was huge speculation that Perez would lose h༒is Red Bull race seat at the mid-way stage of this year.

Ultimately they opted ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤ꦆ⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚto back him, and instead RB’s Ricciardo was replaced by Liam Lawson.

"In the end, the issue of the contract was something that people ✅forget,” he said.

“I made a contract just this season, and many times people t꧅alk about more, but I  wasn't worried, I kn♏ow where I stand."

Perez delivered 💎an encouraging display in Azerbaijan, conten༺ding for a podium until an unfortunate last-lap crash with Carlos Sainz.

His lack of points is a major contributor to McLaren overtaking Red Bull at thꦫe top of the constructors’ championsh🧸ip.