The FIA appeal court has rejected a claim by Alpine boss Flavio Briatore which it says “questions the independence and impartiality of the judges” in a case brought by McLaren and Red Bull against the French team.
Briatore claimed on Friday that one of the appeals court judges in the case that ended with the reinstatement of a ban on Alpine’s Pierre Gasly at the Monaco Grand Prix had “links” to McLaren.
The statement from motorsport’s governing body’s top legal authority said appeal court judges are “subject to the independence and confidentiality requirements contained in the FIA’s judicial and disciplinary rules, make annual disclosures of their interests to the FIA compliance officer and sign a declaration of independence specific to each particular case in consideration of the issue at stake and the parties involved.”
He added that the parties to the dispute were invited before and after the hearing “to raise any question relating to the procedure or the composition of the tribunal. None did so.”
He added: “During the hearing no objection was raised about the manner in which the court cross-examined the witness or conducted the proceedings.
“A court’s decision may leave room for diverse interpretations and comments as to its legal merits; that is fair and accepted by all judges.
“The court trusts in the soundness of the process and the integrity of the judges.
“The FIA courts remain committed to the independence and impartiality of their judges and to the integrity of the judicial process.”
The FIA says the appeal court “operates independently” of the wider organisation.
On Friday Briatore had said: “One of the judges acts as a prosecutor. This is not a big problem. The problem is that he is closely linked to the McLaren company.”
The 76-year-old Italian’s claims were based on a charity auction held in California in 2018, which the judge in question attended and to which he stated that “McLaren gave away two, three McLaren cars.”
“This was pretty unfair,” Briatore said. “One of the judges was linked to a team that was protesting against us.”
Asked why Alpine had not raised objections at the hearing, Briatore said: “We discovered, after the meeting, logically, not before, that this guy was linked to the McLaren team. This is what I think.”
The case against the decision to remove two pit lane speeding penalties for Gasly at Monaco was brought by both McLaren and Red Bull.
The appeal court’s decision demoted Gasly to seventh place and promoted three Red Bull drivers and one McLaren driver in the points standings.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar returned to third, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to fourth and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad to fifth and sixth.
Briatore made no reference to Red Bull in his comments.
McLaren has responded angrily to Briatore’s comments.
Privately, they reject them outright and are angry that what they believe to be unfounded claims have been aired publicly at a press conference.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella attended the same press conference at which Briatore made his comments.
Stella said: “I think this conference going in this direction is quite insulting to McLaren, to the reputation of a team that deserves a lot of respect.
“And if someone makes these kinds of accusations, which seem pretty serious, they’re going to have to take responsibility for what they say in a public forum.
“The hearing, the entire International Court of Appeals, was conducted to the highest standards and we should not question this phase as has been done.”
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