Motor racing-Briatore accuses judge of McLaren links after Gasly loses Monaco podium

Alpine Formula One boss Flavio Briatore accused an appeal court ‌judge ​of having links to McLaren on Friday after a judgment that stripped his Renault-owned team of third place at last June's Monaco Grand Prix. Alpine's French driver Pierre Gasly finished third on track on June 7 but was demoted to seventh when two five-second penalties for pit-lane speeding were applied post-race, with fellow Frenchman ‌Isack Hadjar promoted to third for Red Bull.

That decision was overturned after a right to review on June 12, stewards accepting Renault-owned Alpine's evidence that there had been a timekeeping error. The FIA's International Court of Appeal then met last month to hear a McLaren and Red Bull challenge, with the verdict issued at the Italian Grand Prix. Renault-owned Alpine said they were disappointed and frustrated with the outcome and felt they had been "unjustly punished".

PRESS CONFERENCE ‌CLASH The day took an extraordinary twist when Briatore, appearing with McLaren principal Andrea Stella and Ferrari's Fred Vasseur, used the opportunity of an already scheduled FIA-organised Friday press conference to make public allegations about ‌one of the four judges.

Naming the judge, Briatore said he had been "very nasty" during the hearing, acted like a prosecutor and appeared to have a "working relationship, kind of" with McLaren. "After, we found out what is the reason why so nasty, this guy. He is very linked with McLaren," he alleged, saying Alpine had photographic evidence of the individual giving a speech at a McLaren event in Beverly Hills in 2018 and having a charitable foundation that McLaren had contributed cars to.

"The judge needs to be independent. And not ⁠somebody doing the ​speech for McLaren and somebody using the McLaren car in ⁠the charity," said Briatore, 76, who has had a chequered history in the sport -- winning championships with Benetton and Renault but also involved in one of the sport's biggest scandals that brought a subsequently overturned lifetime ban. "Our big question is why somebody involved ⁠with McLaren was part of the panel in this case. Simple as that."

Stella, who is also Italian, said the tone of the press conference was "quite insulting for McLaren" and the team's reputation. "If anybody makes these kind of allegations, which seem quite ​serious, they are going to have to take the responsibility for what they are saying in a public forum," added the McLaren boss.

OTHER TEAMS ALSO AFFECTED The court's decision will also affect other ⁠teams and drivers with McLaren's Oscar Piastri moving back up to fourth while New Zealand's Liam Lawson, who was with Racing Bulls at the time, returning to fifth and teammate Arvid Lindblad sixth.

Red Bull-owned Racing Bulls and Alpine are in a tight battle for fifth place ⁠with ​the two separated by only three points in the constructors' standings before the latest verdict. The appeal court said in its 26-page published decision that the two five-second time penalties originally imposed on Gasly must stand and be reimposed, with the championship standings amended accordingly.

Arbi Karapetian, Formula One Management's Chief Engineering and Innovation Officer, was the only witness called at the appeal hearing which was held behind closed doors in Paris ⁠on August 25. He gave evidence about the timing system and measurements. Formula One timekeepers have admitted to a "measurement discrepancy" resulting from pitlane changes.

McLaren and Red Bull argued that the stewards' decision in favour of Gasly, ⁠when others had taken penalties during the race and could ⁠not have them undone, was "a breach of the equality of treatment and of sporting fairness". They also said that, in their opinion, the review of the first decisions "was an improper and disproportionate remedy, which was contrary to sporting fairness."

The FIA and Alpine held the view that "the fact that penalties served during a race cannot ‌be rescinded cannot be an obstacle ‌to the cancellation of an illegitimate sanction, because those penalties were served at the discretion and choice of ​the team."