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via Reuters

via Reuters

The fortunes changed for Charles Leclerc in his very last lap as he missed out on the podium just meters before the chequered flag. As the Ferrari driver crossed the finish line, he was unsurprisingly distraught with his performance and mentioned that he did a “sh*t job“.

Leclerc’s disappointment was clearly evident in his radio message, as he responded furiously to his race engineer who mentioned that he did a “good job“.

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I did a sh*t job. That’s it,” he said. “I did a f***ing sh*t job.”

This is the first time that Leclerc has expressed such an intense tone on the radio. However, his reaction is quite reasonable. He looked like he was going to be on the podium no matter what.

To make it sound even better, he was catching up the second-placed Sergio Perez by over a second a lap and even got past him in turn 9 of the final lap.

Unfortunately, in a sudden turn of events, a lock-up going into turn 12 meant that he had to return the P2 back to the Racing Point. To add to his misery, Sebastian Vettel got ahead as well, pushing Leclerc out of the top 3, ending his chances of tasting the champagne.

Charles Leclerc relates his Turkish GP to Baku 2019

The Monegasque felt that his last lap performance in Turkey was as stupid as the one in Baku. “I am f***ing stupid, as much as in Baku,” he said.

Like Leclerc mentioned, his mess up in Turkey can be related to the crash he suffered in Baku last season. The Ferrari driver had everything to lose during the qualifying at the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

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via Reuters

Over the entire weekend in Baku, he looked like the driver who could be grabbing the pole position, but a silly mistake cost him heavily as he crashed out of Q2. His radio message in Baku, too, was similar to the one in Turkey. “I am stupid. I am stupid,” he said.

Despite missing out on the podium in Turkey, Leclerc will still be leaving the Grand Prix with a decent 12 points in hand. Moreover, this race has helped himself in developing a considerable gap from the others behind him in the drivers’ standings.

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Hence, will Leclerc manage to pick up the positives out of this weekend and return stronger for the Bahrain Grand Prix?