McLaren responds to Flavio Briatore’s claims after Alpine loses their Monaco GP podium.
McLaren has responded after Alpine boss Flavio Briatore accused one of the judges at the FIA’s International Court of Appeal hearing of favoring McLaren.
Last Friday, the court decided to bring back two five-second penalties against Pierre Gasly from the Monaco Grand Prix, where he was found speeding in the pit lane. Gasly originally finished third on the track but was pushed down to seventh because of the penalties. However, those penalties were first overturned after it was found that an official had measured the pit lane distance wrong.
Now, the latest FIA ruling reversed that decision again, meaning Alpine lost its podium finish three months after the race.
McLaren and Red Bull had appealed to the FIA’s court to cancel the earlier ruling, hoping for fairness since McLaren driver Oscar Piastri also lost points due to the same issue. Piastri was one of four drivers given five-second penalties for speeding in the pit lane. With the newest decision, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar has been promoted to third, and Piastri moved up to fourth.
Right after the announcement, Alpine’s Briatore accused one judge on the panel of being connected to McLaren, saying it was unfair since the team benefited from the ruling. “This is very unfair,” Briatore said. “One judge acted more like a prosecutor, and we found out he has close ties to McLaren. There’s a picture of him at a McLaren event in 2018, and McLaren even gave a car to his foundation.”
McLaren boss Andrea Stella later tried to calm things down, saying the decision was based on fairness, but Briatore disagreed strongly. He added that judges should be independent, but this one seemed biased and even “nasty” during the hearing. He said, “We had no idea about his McLaren connections until after the hearing. It’s not right to have anyone linked to a team in these cases.”
Briatore also questioned why someone connected to McLaren was even on the panel when the team was part of the dispute. He said Alpine accepts the result but finds the judge’s connections disappointing and unfair.
According to Sky Sports, the FIA is confident their court and judge selection process is independent, and McLaren says they have no ties to the judge in question.
To recap, Gasly initially won his appeal because Alpine showed that the official pit lane measurement was 77 centimeters off, so he hadn’t actually sped. That led to the penalties being dropped. But McLaren appealed again, pointing out it wasn’t fair since their driver Piastri lost points from the same problem.
Now, the original penalties are back, with Hadjar in third, Piastri fourth, and Gasly back down to seventh. Other drivers like Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad moved up a bit as well.
It’s been a rollercoaster for the Monaco results, but both teams seem determined to make sure things are fair—and people want to see a truly level playing field in Formula 1.