FIA Appeal Court Defends Judges After Flavio Briatore Questions Alpine Ruling

The FIA's International Court of Appeal has defended the independence of its judges after Alpine executive adviser Flavio Briatore alleged that a judge involved in a recent case had links to McLaren. BBC Sport reported that the court issued its response after Briatore discussed the matter at the Italian Grand Prix on Friday.

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What happened stems from an appeal brought by McLaren and Red Bull over a decision involving Alpine driver Pierre Gasly at the Monaco Grand Prix. Two penalties for speeding in the pit lane had initially been dropped. The appeal court reinstated the punishment, returning Gasly to seventh place in the final classification.

That ruling also changed the positions ahead of Gasly. Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar was restored to third, McLaren's Oscar Piastri to fourth, while Racing Bulls drivers Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad moved to fifth and sixth. Although both McLaren and Red Bull challenged the earlier decision, Briatore's public comments referred to McLaren rather than Red Bull.

Briatore claimed the judge's alleged connection arose from attendance at a 2018 charity auction in California, where he said McLaren had provided cars. He argued that the situation was unfair, but also said Alpine discovered the information only after the hearing. The allegation remains Briatore's characterization of the circumstances rather than an established finding.

The FIA court said its judges are bound by independence and confidentiality rules, disclose their interests annually to the governing body's compliance officer and sign a declaration of independence for each case. It also said all parties were invited to raise concerns about either the process or the court's composition before and after the hearing, but none did. According to the court, no objection was made during the hearing about its questioning or conduct.

Why it matters is that the dispute now extends beyond Gasly's race classification to confidence in the FIA's judicial process. The court said legal decisions can be debated on their merits while maintaining that the proceedings and judges in this case were sound. BBC Sport also reported that McLaren rejected Briatore's allegations. Team principal Andrea Stella, who shared the news conference with Briatore, described the direction of the discussion as insulting to McLaren and said anyone making serious public allegations must accept responsibility for them.