The court answers back
The FIA’s International Court of Appeal published a statement this morning, hours before qualifying at Monza, rejecting the suggestion that its judges lacked independence. It followed a public attack from Alpine executive advisor Flavio Briatore.
Briatore accused one of the judges who heard the Monaco Grand Prix case of favouring McLaren. The panel had reinstated Pierre Gasly’s penalties from that race, stripping the Frenchman of his podium for a second time, after an appeal brought by McLaren and Red Bull. The verdict landed on Friday. Briatore’s reaction landed minutes later.
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What the ICA said
The court confirmed it was aware of comments questioning the independence and impartiality of the panel that decided case ICA-2026-06-07-08-09. It then set out how its judges get there. All are elected by FIA General Assemblies, some on the proposal of a group of at least five Formula 1 teams under the FIA Statutes. They file annual declarations of interest with the FIA Compliance Officer and sign a separate declaration of independence for every case they hear, which is then served to the parties involved.
The court also pointed at the hearing itself. Both sides were invited to raise concerns about the proceedings or the composition of the panel at the start and again at the close. Neither did. No objection was raised during the hearing about how the court questioned the witness or ran the process.
“The Court is confident in the soundness of the proceedings and the integrity of the judges,” the statement read.
Alpine against McLaren, with a race still to run
Andrea Stella had already answered on Friday. The McLaren team principal called the allegations insulting, taking particular issue with Briatore questioning the relationship between the reigning constructors’ champions and the judge involved.
Gasly loses the Monaco podium for a second time, and Alpine roll into Italian Grand Prix qualifying having spent two days arguing about a race run months ago. The paddock will also have noticed how the court finished. It defended the practice of building panels from judges of different cultural and geographical backgrounds, which reads like a direct reply to the line Briatore chose to take.
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