“Estie Bestie’s on the podium, baby!” said a delighted Esteban Ocon as he claimed the third podium in the Monaco Grand Prix. The Frenchman was ‘on a cloud’ after giving Alpine their first rostrum appearance since 2021, and celebrated with joy. Although this rare feat was only achieved because of the unique layout of the Monaco circuit that makes overtaking difficult, Ocon’s fine drive was deserving of appreciation. So, the entire F1 poured in appreciation for the shocking winner, crowning him the driver of the day. However, that soon turned into criticism. 

After a stunning qualifying lap, just 0.188s shy of pole-sitter Max Verstappen, Ocon was the fourth fastest. However, when Charles Leclerc was penalized for blocking Lando Norris, the Alpine driver inherited a P3 start. Going into the race, Ocon had to resist pressure from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz behind. But in an attempt to ‘attack’ Ocon, Sainz damaged his own front wing and opened doors of heaven for the latter. So, in the end, the Frenchman survived the incredibly slippery race, and stood on the podium overjoyed.

Soon after, speaking to the media, the Frenchman confessed his wish to secure many more podiums in the future as the atmosphere becomes positive about this podium. But at the same time, he also reminded the team that they ‘should keep our feet on the ground‘ as there is still a lot of work to do. 

Read More: Despite Delivering Fitting Reply to Alpine CEO’s Damning Rant, Esteban Ocon Issues Brutal Reality Check Amid Mega Celebrations

However, paying no heed to Ocon’s reality check during the mega celebrations, Alpine Sporting Director Alan Permane’s issued a statement. And it was clearly not received well by the twitterati. 

Fans react to Alpine’s ‘unrealistic’ claims after shocking Monaco podium 

It’s been a tough year for Alpine, with CEO Laurent Rossi having openly criticized the team’s 2023 performances while pointing fingers at team principal Otmar Szafnauer. Nevertheless, the strong race in Monaco took some of the pressure away, making Rossi happy. However, Alpine is still behind Mercedes and Ferrari in terms of race pace and that’s not where a team with big ambitions wants to be. So, it was important for the Enstone-based team to put their heads down and continue to work, like Ocon said. 

But talking about Alpine’s expectations for the next few races, Sporting Director Alan Permane made a bold claim, saying, “I expect us to be ahead of Mercedes in the next race as well and to keep up with Ferrari.” And the F1 enthusiasts were quick to respond and called him ‘delusional’. One fan wrote: “This is so embarrassing for us“

Some found Alpine challenging the 8x champions Mercedes and 5x champions Red Bull hilarious and asked if Alan Permane was on drugs. “These dons are smoking crack. They had one good race and now expect that every weekend hahaha“

However, some believe Alpine is capable of achieving the feat they’re hoping for. One fan wrote: “To be fair, alpine was fast than Ferrari at the end of the first stint on the Hards, so also faster than Mercedes. Not completely delusional but still pretty far away on a normal track, so we’ll see in Spain.“

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Before the Monaco Grand Prix, Ocon’s podium appearance was after his win in the Hungary Grand Prix two years ago.