Max Verstappen had a blunt message and no sympathy for Ferrari's Charles Leclerc after Baku disaster: 'Shit happens'

• Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz failed to finish the Azerbaijan GP as Red Bull went 1-2.
• The performance dropped Leclerc and Ferrari further behind Max Verstappen and Red Bull in title hunts.

Charles Leclerc and Ferrari are suddenly reeling, and Max Verstappen doesn't feel sorry for them — not one bit.

One race after Ferrari botched its pit strategy and cost its drivers a shot at winning in Monaco, the team hit a new low in Baku as both Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr had mechanical problems and failed to finish the race or score any points.

Verstappen cruised to an easy win one year after a late tire failure cost him P1 at the 2021 Baku race. And with teammate Sergio Perez finishing second and recording the fastest lap, Red Bull scored maximum points.

After the race, Verstappen, who had his own struggles finishing races early in the season, was asked if he felt any sympathy for Leclerc, who has now fallen to third in the championship standings.

"I would only say, shit happens," Verstappen said. "That's racing, you know. It happened to me. It happened to many people in the past. Unfortunately, it is happening to Charles."

When third-place finisher George Russell jokingly followed up by asking Verstappen if that was a yes or a no, the defending champion simply replied, "Like I said, shit happens."

Leclerc, who finished first or second in four of the season's first five races, has now had to retire from two of the last three with no podiums, despite starting on pole position in all three. With the struggles, he now has 116 points and is closer to fourth-place Russell in the standings (99) than Verstappen (150). He has also fallen behind Sergio Perez (129).

In addition, Ferrari, which had looked like the team championship favorites early in the season, has now fallen 80 points behind Red Bull and is just 38 points ahead of Mercedes, which has also struggled all year.