'I don't even want to think about the championship fight at the moment': Max Verstappen on his second retirement in three races

By Issy Ronald, CNN

Updated 1014 GMT (1814 HKT) April 11, 2022

It's been a rollercoaster start to the season for Max Verstappen as he has notched up one victory and two retirements in the opening three races.

(CNN)Defending Formula One world champion Max Verstappen suffered his second retirement in three races, while he watched title rival Charles Leclerc win yet again in dominant fashion and extend his lead in the drivers' championship at the Australian Grand Prix.

Verstappen slipped to sixth in the overall standings, 46 points behind the Monegasque driver, who won Sunday's race by more than 20 seconds over Verstappen's teammate, Sergio Pérez.«We're already miles behind,» Verstappen said after the race to F1. «I don't even want to think about the championship fight at the moment. I think it's more important to finish races.»After qualifying in second place, Verstappen was forced to retire on Lap 39 of 58 due to a suspected fuel leak. Even before his retirement, the Dutchman was unable to challenge Leclerc who cruised to victory.«Of course, today was in general just a bad day again,» Verstappen continued, «Just not really having the pace. I was just managing my tires, trying to just bring it to the end because it looked like quite an easy P2 anyway.»Read MoreVerstappen was forced to retire from the Australian Grand Prix with a suspected fuel leak.Issues with the Red Bull car plagued Verstappen all weekend. In qualifying, he was hindered by balance issues while his mechanics were still tinkering with the car on the grid prior to the race.«I knew there was a problem, so there was always going to be a question mark over finishing the race, but these kind of things — if you want to fight for the title — cannot happen,» he