McLaren and Alpine F1 teams clash as Briatore's appeal outburst sparks dispute

A heated dispute has erupted ahead of the Italian Grand Prix between Alpine's executive adviser and de facto team principal Flavio Briatore and McLaren principal Andrea Stella. The conflict stems from Briatore's allegations regarding McLaren's alleged influence over an FIA court of appeal ruling against Alpine. Stella has rejected these claims as "insulting."

On Friday morning, the court of appeal issued a decision favoring appeals by McLaren and Red Bull regarding the Monaco Grand Prix result. The appeals were based on incorrect pit lane speeding penalties issued due to an improperly measured pit lane in Monaco. Alpine's Pierre Gasly received two such penalties and successfully appealed, initially being awarded third place.

However, the court of appeal later reversed this decision, demoting Gasly to seventh place. Red Bull's Isack Hadjar was reinstated to third position, and McLaren's Oscar Piastri moved to fourth.

Briatore, whose lifetime Formula One ban related to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix was overturned, attended Friday's press conference in Monza with an A4 sheet of paper. He directly confronted Stella, alleging bias in the judgment.

"We accept the decision, but what is very strange is that four judges sat on the panel. One of the judges acted like a prosecutor," Briatore stated. "This is not a big problem. The problem is he's linked with the McLaren company, because we have a nice picture of this guy at a speech for McLaren in 2018 at MSO in Beverly Hills.

"He has a foundation called the One Drop foundation, and McLaren gave two, three McLaren cars. This was quite unfair. One of the judges was linked with a team that was protesting us."

MSO is associated with McLaren's automotive division, separate from the racing team. Stella, visibly offended by the accusation, responded coldly and suggested Briatore could face consequences for his allegations.

"I find that this conference is going in this direction, quite insulting for McLaren, for the reputation of a team that deserves a lot of respect," Stella said. "If anybody makes these kind of allegations, which seem quite serious, they are going to have to take 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."

Stella referenced Article 1.1.1 of the FIA's international sporting code, under which the appeals were filed.

Briatore responded by naming the judge in question. "It's very nice to talk about point one, P2, three, but what is unfair is that the judge was linked with McLaren. The judge should be completely independent, and this judge, Filippo Marchino, was very nasty during the hearing and acted as a prosecutor. After we found out why he was so nasty, we realized this guy is very linked with McLaren."

The four-member court of appeal panel's composition was known six weeks in advance, allowing parties to object to appointees. The FIA released a statement explaining their selection process: "The eligibility of candidates for membership of the international tribunal and international court of appeal (ICA) is checked by the eligibility assessment committee, in accordance with the FIA statutes.

"The FIA judicial and disciplinary rules provide that for each case before the ICA, a judging panel is constituted, comprising at least three judges. The members of the judging panel are appointed by the president of the ICA." Marchino has been contacted for comment.

On track at Monza, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets in first practice, with Mercedes' George Russell third and his teammate Antonelli fifth. In the second session, Russell was fastest, narrowly ahead of Leclerc, with Antonelli third, McLaren's Lando Norris fourth, and Hamilton fifth.