Sergio Perez says he accepts that he will not win the 2023 world championship.
Actually, the Mexican - whose qualifying performances have slumped recently - is easily the most likely driver to pose any further challenge to Max Verstappen's cruise to his third consecutive drivers' title this year.
That's because Perez, 33, is second in the standings behind Verstappen in the sister dominant Red Bull - albeit almost 100 points behind the Dutchman.
Germany's major Bild newspaper has run the numbers and found that Verstappen basically no longer needs to win another grand prix in 2023 to still win the title.
"If Perez is always first with the fastest lap and Verstappen is always second, Perez would end up just a single point ahead of his teammate with 500 points versus 499 for Verstappen," correspondent Silja Rulle reported.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner is quoted as saying: "Checo started the season very well, but has been weak lately on Saturdays.
"He's a guy who needs an arm around his shoulder. We know he's coming back, we just want to make sure that happens as soon as possible."
Perez spent the weekend in Madrid, demonstrating an old Red Bull car in front of 50,000 Spaniards.
He told local media: "Getting two good results before the summer break is my priority. I hope to be on the podium in Hungary."
As for Verstappen, Perez admitted that his 25-year-old teammate is "one of the greats of F1, like Schumacher or Ayrton Senna".
He added: "I'm not second in the world championship by a miracle. I've won two races and had some bad ones, but I'm still there.
"For now I'm happy, I'm excited about the future, but my focus is on racing," said Perez, revealing: "My goal is to be runner-up in the championship this season".
When asked about the next race in Hungary, he told EFE news agency: "It will be a difficult grand prix, with a lot of corners - a lot of slow corners.
"It may not be our best circuit, but we have everything to fight for the victory."
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