Motor racing-Leclerc tough on himself after letting podium finish slip

ISTANBUL, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Ferrari's Charles Leclerc delivered a brutal assessment of his performance on Sunday in a radio rant after a last lap mistake cost him a place on the Turkish Grand Prix podium.

The Monegasque finished fourth after losing out to Racing Points' Sergio Perez and his own Ferrari team mate Sebastian Vettel behind Mercedes' race winner Lewis Hamilton.

Leclerc, who started 12th on the grid, had weaved his way into podium contention at the Istanbul Park circuit after a pit stop around halfway through the race.

After passing Vettel, Leclerc hunted down Perez and overtook the Mexican before a lock-up with three corners to go sent him wide as Perez and Vettel slipped past.

"I did a shit job," Leclerc said repeatedly over the radio, making clear his anger at the mistake with some other choice remarks.

"The end result counts. I was good for one part of the race but shit when it matters and that's it, fourth. I'm so disappointed," he said.

"So disappointed with myself today. We were extremely quick but my last lap mistake is what cost us the 2nd place," Leclerc said on Twitter.

"On the other hand, happy for Seb, it's been a very difficult season overall and he deserves the podium so much."

Four-time world champion Vettel, who earned his first podium of the season, said Leclerc still had a long career ahead of him.

"I'm happy for anything he achieves and will achieve in the future,' Vettel said.

Vettel has had one of his worst seasons in 2020, as Ferrari have struggled to look competitive in a year marred with woes and disappointments.

With third and fourth-place finishes on Sunday, the Italian outfit notched a season-high 27 points. (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu, editing by Alan Baldwin and Pritha Sarkar)