The streets of Baku continue to live up to their reputation of producing high drama. Although he looked strong all weekend, championship leader Max Verstappen has crashed out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

This crash has major implications on his season, the biggest one being the possibility of losing the championship lead to Lewis Hamilton.

What happened to Max Verstappen in Baku?

Although he started the race from P3, Verstappen put in a strong performance throughout. He started with soft tires that were four laps younger to Hamilton and kept the pressure on the Briton throughout the first 10 laps. After pitting in Lap 13 for a fresh set of hard tires, the Dutchman took the lead in Lap 19 after Sebastian Vettel pitted for fresh tires.

However, disaster struck for the Dutchman on Lap 47. Leading the race, the Dutchman’s rear tires gave out, sending him spinning into the wall at the finish line. This result drew heartbreaking reactions from fans across the world, especially from his huge Dutch fan army.

With Lance Stroll crashing out in Lap 35, Pirelli gained the spotlight in a manner they didn’t hope for. Teams will ask questions to Pirelli about the tires chosen for the weekend after these two crashes.

Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner, believes the fault lies within the tires itself. The Briton said, “It was exactly the same tyre that failed on Stroll, so I think it is a tyre issue.”

READ MORE: WATCH: Red Bull Message to FIA’s Michael Masi to Red Flag Baku F1 Race After Verstappen’s Crash

What does this mean for Verstappen’s season?

With Hamilton in P2, Verstappen was set to concede the championship lead to his title rival. Although the Dutchman took the fastest lap of the race before his crash, he did not get the extra point that comes with it since he did not finish the race.

However, a huge lock-up from Hamilton heading into Turn 1 cost him dearly at the restart, who ultimately finished P15. Despite a strong race, the Briton finished outside the points after 54 consecutive races of scoring points.

With Baku done and dusted, the title fight now heads to Le Castellet, with the French Grand Prix in two weeks time. Returning to a proper racetrack after back-to-back street races, Red Bull need to be wary of the threat Mercedes pose, given the Silver Arrows are the only team to win here since the track returned to the F1 calendar in 2018.