Hamilton struggled at the Monaco Grand Prix, only managing to qualify 7th, while rival Verstappen qualified 2nd. While Verstappen cruised to a race win, Hamilton was stuck behind Pierre Gasly in the AlphaTauri. Hamilton finished seventh after being overcut by Sergio Pérez and Vettel. As a result, Hamilton lost the championship lead to Verstappen. At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Hamilton qualified 2nd behind polesitter Charles Leclerc. He took the lead from Leclerc on lap 2 and remained in the lead until lap 10, where he pitted. Both Verstappen and Perez managed to overcut Hamilton, meaning Hamilton was a net third. Hamilton tried to put pressure on Perez for second place throughout the race, but while he was much faster in the pit straight, Hamilton lost time to Perez in the tight corners. On lap 46, race leader and championship rival Verstappen suffered a puncture on his rear left tyre, causing him to crash and bringing out a red flag and promoting Hamilton to 2nd. At the restart of the race, Hamilton got a better start than leader Perez but was unable to slow down before turn 1 and went straight off the circuit. This meant Hamilton dropped to 15th and finished a race outside of the points for the first time since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix. After the race, it was revealed that Hamilton went off at the restart owing to an incorrect brake bias setting.