About

Ferrari Clown Pitwall is a meme popular among Formula 1 racing fans, typically used to mock the Ferrari pitwall for their perceived inadequacies in Formula 1 races and Grand Prix tournaments since 2019. The meme typically shows the pit crew with various clown-faced memes edited onto their faces. Such memes are shared online, particularly on the /r/formuladank subreddit, after a blunder by the Ferrari pitwall leads to an otherwise adept racer losing their race. A catchphrase often associated with the meme is "We are checking," a line that grew popular after Vettel's 2020 race in Spain.

Origin

The 2019 Australian Grand Prix saw Ferrari's Charles Leclerc lose to Red Bull's Max Verstappen, prompting many Ferrari fans to express their frustration over the Ferrari team's strategy calls.

The earliest known notable meme depicting the Ferrari pit crew as clowns was posted to the subreddit /r/formuladank on June 30th, 2019, with Redditor^[1] /u/yourefiredrigby writing, "An insider image of the Ferrari Pitwall when any one of their drivers come in for a pit stop."

Similar strategic blunders during the Italian Grand Prix^[2] and the Singapore Grand Prix^[3] gave Ferrari fans the impression that newcomer Sebastian Vettel was being favored over Charles Leclerc, prompting renewed "Pit Clown" memes.

Redditor^[4] /u/yourefiredrigby subsequently reposted the image to /r/formuladank on September 7th, writing, " How every team’s pitwall looked like at the last runs of Q3," gathering over 2,000 upvotes in six months.

On November 12th, 2024, YouTuber^[8] DailyFuelUp made a post titled, "Ferrari Messing Up But It Gets Increasingly Stupider," chronicling various Ferrari Formula 1 fails in a video that gathered over 1.5 million views in four months.

Spread

On July 21st, 2020, Redditor^[5] /u/z0l1 posted a version of the Ferrari Clown Pitwall meme to the subreddit /r/formuladank, writing, "When Vettel corrects your strategy but Leclerc is already on it," and gathering over 8,000 upvotes in five years.

On October 10th, 2021, Redditor^[6] /u/Kirovo posted a Ferrari Pitwall Clown meme to /r/formuladank as well, writing, "Leclerc: what position are we looking at with this pace / Ferrari: if we keep number 2 behind, p1," and joking about the pitwall giving unhelpful tips like, "If we just keep the car behind us from overtaking, we’ll win." The post gathered over 29,000 upvotes in four years.

On July 31st, 2022, Redditor^[7] /u/JACBoucher posted a photo of several Ferrari fans dressed as clowns, gathering over 13,000 points in three years.

An August 16th, 2022, post by Redditor^[9] /u/ScaryOrdinary5238 to the /r/formuladank subreddit joking about Max Verstappen winning a race because of the Ferrari pitwall's mistakes gathered over 7,000 upvotes in three years.

Various Examples

Search Interest

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External References