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.”

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.