Alpine Formula 1 boss Flavio Briatore has questioned the fairness of the appeal procedure against the Monaco Grand Prix results, claiming one judge has a close relationship with McLaren.
Pierre Gasly was one of several drivers penalised in Monaco for exceeding the pitlane speed limit, which was later found to be the result of an incorrect measurement by FOM. Gasly lost his third place, but Alpine launched a right of review against the penalties, with the FIA race stewards agreeing to rescind the Frenchman’s penalty.
McLaren and Red Bull appealed against that decision, as the other drivers involved had already served their penalties and didn’t have the opportunity to get those rescinded.
Following a lengthy procedure, the FIA’s International Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the appellants and reinstated Gasly’s two five-second penalties, dropping him to seventh as Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar reclaimed a podium spot.
In a statement the Alpine expressed “its disappointment and frustration” with the ruling. But in the FIA’s Italian Grand Prix press conference on Friday, executive advisor Flavio Briatore went much further, suggesting the hearing had been unfair as he claimed one of the four judges, Italian-American Filippo Marchino, had links to McLaren.
“I think it’s very unfair. We accept the decision, but what is very strange was there were four judges on the panel and one of the judges acted like a prosecutor,” Briatore said. “It was four judges, and this one was really a prosecutor against the FIA, against us, against FOM.
“Afterwards we found out what is the reason why this guy was so nasty. It’s very linked with McLaren. We have a nice picture of this guy [giving a] speech for McLaren in 2018 at MSO Beverly Hills. He has a foundation, it’s called One Drop Foundation and McLaren gave two or three McLaren cars, and this was quite unfair.
Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor of Alpine F1
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
“We accept the decision, we accept everything, but it’s quite strange to have one guy in the panel linked to the team. This is unfair. The judge normally needs to be independent completely.”
Sitting alongside Briatore, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella was visibly taken aback by those accusations.
“I find that this conference is going in a direction that is quite insulting for McLaren, for the reputation of a team that deserves a lot of respect,” Stella shot back. “And if anybody makes these kinds of allegations, which seem quite serious, they are going to have to take the responsibility for what they are saying in a public forum.
“The hearing, the whole International Court of Appeal was conducted to the highest standards, and we should not question this case like it’s been done.”
Commenting on the Monaco appeal outcome, which also moved up McLaren driver Oscar Piastri up from fifth to fourth and earned the two additional championship points, Stella said: “It’s a decision that definitely we welcome. It’s very important, because it adds clarity in relation to the application of Article 1.1.1 of the International Sporting Code of the FIA, which is foundational for anything that derives from there.
“We appealed because we wanted to make sure that this clarity was sought. We had concerns which were beyond the fact that we might have lost two championship points. Probably these two championship points are not going to make any difference. We were concerned about the application of sporting equality and fairness. This is important and this is not only important for McLaren.
Andrea Stella, McLaren
Photo by: Eric Le Galliot
“In fact, not only Red Bull applied, but all teams were present in the hearing because this was a very important moment in terms of clarification as to how we apply the rules, as to how we apply consistency, and also in the specific case, consistency is related to the methodologies that are valid through our race weekend.”
Briatore returned to F1 in June 2024 as an executive advisor to then-Alpine CEO Luca de Meo. Earlier in his career, the Italian helped steer the Benetton and Renault teams to consecutive world championships, with Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso respectively.
But he was subsequently handed a lifetime paddock ban for his instrumental role in the 2008 Singapore ‘Crashgate’ scandal. Briatore had been implicated in a plot that involved his driver Nelson Piquet Jr crashing deliberately to cause a safety car intervention that helped his team-mate Alonso win. That lifetime ban by the FIA was overturned in 2010, with the Italian a regular paddock presence as a dealmaker until his official return with Alpine.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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