Formula 1 is no stranger to scandal, but when Flavio Briatore decides to stir the pot, the splash zone reaches every corner of the paddock.
The FIA’s International Court of Appeal’s decision to strip Alpine’s Pierre Gasly of his podium finish in the Monaco Grand Prix has not gone down well with Briatore, who launched a blistering assault on the integrity of the FIA’s judicial system during an explosive presser on Friday at Monza
Gasly’s podium had already become one of the most contentious stories of the 2026 season after an inaccurate pitlane timing measurement triggered two five-second penalties.
Alpine successfully challenged those sanctions through the FIA stewards’ right-of-review process, only for McLaren and Red Bull to appeal that decision to the International Court of Appeal (ICA).
The Court ultimately reinstated Gasly’s penalties, dropping him from third to seventh and handing Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar the podium position instead. But Briatore clearly has no intention of letting the matter disappear quietly.
Briatore raises explosive questions over FIA judge
The flamboyant Alpine F1 boss claimed the ICA hearing was compromised by the alleged relationship between Italian-American judge Filippo Marchino and 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.”
Briatore then questioned whether such an individual should have been involved in the case at all.
“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,” he said.
Those accusations immediately drew a sharp response from McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, who was sitting alongside Briatore.
Stella fires back at Alpine chief
Stella appeared visibly taken aback by Briatore’s intervention and strongly rejected the suggestion that McLaren’s successful appeal had been influenced by anything other than legitimate sporting concerns.
“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.”
Stella insisted McLaren’s appeal had never been about simply recovering the two championship points gained when Oscar Piastri was promoted from fifth to fourth. Instead, he argued, the team wanted clarity over how the rules should be applied.
“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,” he added.
“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.
“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’s intervention carries an additional layer of controversy given his own turbulent history with Formula 1.
The Italian was handed a lifetime FIA paddock ban for his role in the 2008 Singapore ‘Crashgate’ affair, after being implicated in a scheme involving Nelson Piquet Jr deliberately crashing to trigger a safety car and aid Fernando Alonso’s victory.
That ban was overturned in 2010, and Briatore eventually returned to F1 officially in 2024 as an Alpine executive advisor.
Now, more than a decade after his ban was lifted, the outspoken Italian has once again found himself at the centre of a fierce dispute over sporting justice – this time accusing the sport’s judicial process of falling short of the independence he believes it demands.
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via X and Facebook
