Briatore Accuses FIA Appeal Judge of McLaren Links After Gasly Loses Monaco Podium

Pierre Gasly’s Monaco Grand Prix podium was removed again after the FIA International Court of Appeal restored two five-second penalties for pit-lane speeding. The result demoted the Alpine driver from third to seventh and promoted Isack Hadjar to third. 3337

Alpine executive adviser Flavio Briatore said the team accepted the decision, but used the aftermath to challenge the perceived neutrality of one member of the four-judge panel: Filippo Marchino.

What Briatore said

Briatore described the outcome as “very unfair.” He said one judge had behaved like a prosecutor during the hearing and called him “very nasty.” His central complaint was not simply the result, but what he presented as a potential connection between Marchino and McLaren, one of the teams that appealed Alpine’s earlier penalty reversal. 32

Briatore alleged that Marchino had spoken at a McLaren Special Operations event in Beverly Hills in 2018. He also claimed that the One Drop Foundation had received “two or three” McLaren cars. Briatore argued that this made it inappropriate for Marchino to sit on a case involving a McLaren appeal. 3249

Those were Briatore’s allegations. Reporting on the exchange said he did not provide evidence that the court’s verdict had been improperly influenced. 26

Why Gasly lost the podium

The appeal concerned two five-second penalties imposed on Gasly for pit-lane speeding at the Monaco Grand Prix. The FIA’s case notice identifies McLaren Racing and Red Bull Racing as the appellants against the stewards’ June decisions involving Gasly’s car. 33

The International Court of Appeal later published its decision in the matter, restoring the penalties. That returned Gasly to seventh place and elevated Hadjar to the final podium spot. 3711

McLaren’s response

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella rejected the insinuation that McLaren had influenced the appeal court. He called the direction of the press conference “insulting” to McLaren and its reputation, and said that anyone making serious accusations should be prepared to take responsibility for them. 1820

Stella’s response was a rebuttal of the allegation, not confirmation that McLaren had begun legal action.

How the FIA defended the appeal process

The FIA Courts responded that the judges’ appointment and participation complied with its judicial procedures and conflict-of-interest safeguards. According to the FIA response reported after Briatore’s remarks, judges make annual interest disclosures and case-specific declarations of independence that are supplied to the parties. The FIA also said the parties were invited to raise objections to the panel or procedure at the beginning and end of the hearing, and that no objection was made. 15

That distinction matters: a participant can disagree with a judgment’s legal outcome, but the FIA said it stood by the integrity and impartiality of the court process. 15

Are disciplinary or defamation cases underway?

The available reports did not establish that the FIA had opened disciplinary proceedings against Briatore or that McLaren, Marchino, or another party had filed a defamation claim. Such outcomes would depend on formal action by the relevant body or individual, not merely on Stella’s warning that serious allegations should be defensible. 1820

For now, the concrete sporting consequence is settled in the published appeal decision: Gasly’s penalties stand, and Hadjar’s Monaco podium is restored. 37