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

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

Perez heads into this weekend’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,”ಌ Perez told Spanish oꦇutlet AS.

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

“Target now? Undoubtedly the runner-up in the championsh🤡ip. 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 pla﷽ce.But he faces competition from the chasing pack behind,🐷 with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso just 19 points adrift in third.

Meanwhile, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who si🌌ts fourth, trails Perez by 35 points.