Tyre failure robbed Max Verstappen of a race win in a chaotic finish to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that also saw Lewis Hamilton fail to finish in the points, while Lance Stroll also crashed out due to tyre failure.

The string of incidents led to Sergio Perez winning his first race for Red Bull ahead of Sebastian Vettel's Aston Martin and the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly.

Verstappen looked to be headed for his third race win of the season, before his left-rear tyre failed and sent him into the wall at speeds in excess of 300 kilometres per hour, with just five laps left in the race.

"F***ing tyres," Verstappen said over the team radio before he exited the vehicle and kicked the offending tyre.

The Dutch driver would later say that there were no signs of any tyre issues before the crash.

"It's not a nice moment to have, its quite a dangerous place to have a tyre blow out at that speed.

"Up until then I think we had a very strong race and we were fully in control. To have this happen so close to the end is very frustrating."

The accident was almost identical to one that happened 15-laps earlier to Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll at similar speeds.

Verstappen's crash saw the race red-flagged with just three laps left, rather than it finishing under the safety car.

Someone who may have wished it did was Lewis Hamilton.

The Mercedes star made a huge error on the race restart and sent his car off track from second place, pushing him out of the points and allowing Verstappen to hold onto the lead in the Drivers' Championship.

"I am so sorry guys," Hamilton told the team over the radio.

He said he had accidentally changed the brake balance on the car before the turn, causing him to go off.

"I had no idea that I had even touched it."

Red Bull asked for red flag

After the Verstappen crash Red Bull asked the FIA to stop the race and allow all teams to be able to change their tyres.

Red Bull's Sporting Director, Jonathan Wheatley, told race director Michael Masi they had no prior warning of the tyre failure which sent Verstappen into the wall.

"We got zero warning of that failure, nothing," he said.

"Nothing on a metric, not a vibration.

"Consider a red-flag and the opportunity for everyone to change tyres."

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was broadcast inn conversation from the pit wall saying he was confident it was a tyre failure.

"I think it's a tyre failure they were at the end of their life,'  Horner said.

Stroll was more circumspect in his analysis.

"We have to look into it, we don't know what happened yet," Stroll said.

The two incidents led to Sky Sports UK commentator Anthony Davidson saying there needed to be an investigation into the tyres made by manufacturer, Pirelli.

"There's going to be some seriously big questions from the teams, asked of Pirelli and why this happened," he said.

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But while some on the grid where wondering what could have been, Perez was enjoying just the second win of his F1 career. 

"This is for you guys. Fantastic job," he said to his team over the radio. 

After the race he said this win would be a a platform for him to use for the rest of the season.

"I am so, so happy for today. It is a fantastic day for us," he said post-race. 

"This is definitely a strong boost of confidence for myself and for the team."

The win has boosted him to third in the driver's championship, behind Verstappen and Hamilton.  

Ricciardo rises to ninth after drama at the front

Daniel Ricciardo had a relatively quiet race around the streets of Baku, sitting just outside the top-10 for much of the race.

But the retirements of Verstappen, Stroll and Hamilton's mistake allowed him climb up to ninth.

The Australian's final two laps were not without drama, with the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi running into the back of his McLaren.

Fortunately for Ricciardo the shunt did not knock him off course, but it did result in Giovinazzi being overtaken by his teammate Kimi Räikkönen for 10th — the final point-scoring position.

Ricciardo's' teammate Lando Norris took full advantage of the drama ahead, finishing in fifth.