Frustrated Leclerc says he was ‘s*** when it mattered’ in F1 Turkish GP

Charles Leclerc apologised to the Ferrari Formula 1 team for doing what he described as a “s*** job” during the Turkish Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver looked in contention to claim a third podium of the season during a wet race on Istanbul’s return to the F1 calendar, but threw his good work away on the last lap as he looked to take second place from Sergio Perez.

Leclerc had been flying after switching onto Intermediates on Lap 30 and passed Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel for third in the closing stages, before setting his sights on Racing Point driver Perez.

The Monegasque briefly snuck ahead of Perez when the latter made a mistake and ran wide, but Leclerc locked up and ran deep into Turn 12 on the final lap as the pair continued their duel over P2. The error allowed Vettel to sneak by at the final sequence of corners, with Leclerc left to settle with a disappointing fourth.

After crossing the line, Leclerc radioed in to his Ferrari team to apologise, saying: “I did a s*** job. I am so sorry to the whole team, I am ****** stupid.”

“Unfortunately in the last corner, nothing to say, in the last three corners. In the end, the end result counts,” he added when he spoke to the media after the race.

“I was good for one part of the race but **** when it matters and that’s it. Fourth. I’m so disappointed.”

After gathering his emotions following the initial disappointment, Leclerc congratulated Vettel as Ferrari secured its best result of 2020 with a 27-point haul.

“Now that I’ve calmed down, congratulations to Seb – he deserves it,” Leclerc said. “It’s not been a good year for him. Even if I’m so p***** off with myself, he’s done a great job and I hope he will enjoy it.”