Esteban Ocon has been extremely consistent since he debuted. He still holds the Formula 1 record for the most consecutive race finishes since debut (27). This year, he has excelled at Alpine but has borne the brunt of terrible misfortune. Singapore GP brought more misfortune as he retired after driving a brilliant race while Pierre Gasly came home in 6th. 2 particular races in the season have led to the birth of a new meme. Esteban Ocon reacted to them in the latest video by Alpine.
A Year Riddled with Difficulties
Alpine have been the most unreliable team by a distance this year. And Esteban Ocon has suffered the majority of their mishaps. Apart from the three double DNFs with Pierre Gasly, he has failed to see the chequered flag three more times.
This means Esteban Ocon has finished just 9 out of the 15 Formula 1 races this season, and just 2 in the last 6. At the Singapore GP, he had pulled off some brilliant moves in the midfield and found himself running in 6th. A gearbox failure meant he had to retire the car.
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10-second Penalty Meme
Esteban Ocon had a terrible opening race of the 2023 Formula 1 season in Bahrain. Despite a decent qualifying, he got a 5-second penalty for placing his Alpine incorrectly in the gridbox. Alpine then stopped him for just 4.6s, which led to another 10-second penalty. And while trying to serve that penalty, he sped in the pitlane, which led to another 5s penalty.
At the Austrian GP, a lot of drivers got penalties for track limits. Quite a few penalties were given after the race as well. Esteban Ocon ended up receiving a 30-second penalty post-race (two 10s penalties and two 5s penalties).
This has led to an Esteban Ocon meme in the Formula 1 community and has transcended into other categories also. Formula 1 fans comment “10s penalty for Ocon” in the comment section of any video where someone messes up.
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Esteban Ocon Reacts
In the latest video by Alpine, Esteban Ocon answered questions from Reddit. On being asked whether he knows this meme, he said he does.
“Yes, I’ve seen it in my desperation. Yeah [it] obviously comes from a not-so-great moments. I mean it’s obviously you know something you guys have created. And it’s actually quite funny if you think about it so yeah I don’t take it too badly.”
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