The FIA International Court of Appeal has released a statement after Briatore made claims of alleged bias from a member of the panel.
Alpine boss Flavio Briatore claimed in Friday’s team principal’s press conference that a member of the ICA hearing panel was biased against Alpine.
The hearing was held in response to McLaren and Red Bull protesting the stewards’ decision to remove Pierre Gasly’s Monaco GP penalties and reinstate his podium. A technical issue in Monaco lead to many drivers receiving time penalties for speeding in the pitlane, but Gasly did not serve the penalties during the race. This allowed Alpine a successful right of review to remove the added time.
However, McLaren and Red Bull found this to be unfair to the drivers that had served the penalty and therefore couldn’t have them rescinded. The International Court of Appeal hearing decided to restore Gasly’s penalties, dropping him back to P7 and promoting Isack Hadjar back to P3.
Alpine issued a statement saying that they disagreed with the decision but respected it. But, Briatore then alleged that Judge Filippo Marchino, who served as a member of the ICA hearing panel, was biased against Alpine in the Monza press conference.
Briatore claimed that Marchino held links to McLaren. McLaren Special Operations (MSO) had provided cars to an event in 2018 that Marchino was involved with, and that he had a photo of Marchino with a McLaren.
However, MSO is the road car division and not linked to the Formula 1 team. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, who was also present at the press conference, called the insinuation “insulting”.
The ICA issued the following statement in response to Briatore’s allegations.
International Court of Appeal statement
The FIA Courts are aware of public comments questioning the independence and impartiality of the judges of the panel that decided Case ICA-2026-06-07-08-09.
The FIA Courts wish to make clear that the appointment and participation of the judges in that case, like for any other case, were conducted in accordance with the applicable FIA judicial procedures and usual practice, which are inspired by the highest standards like the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration.
All judges are elected by the FIA General Assemblies, some of them upon proposition of a group of at least five F1 teams in accordance with the FIA Statutes. They are all subject to the independence and confidentiality requirements contained in the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, make annual disclosures of interests to the FIA Compliance Officer, and sign a specific declaration of independence for each particular case in consideration of the issue at stake and the parties involved, which is served to the parties.
At both the beginning and conclusion of the hearing, the parties were invited to raise any issue concerning the proceedings or the composition of the Court. None did so. No objection was raised during the hearing concerning the manner in which the Court questioned the witness or conducted the proceedings.
The ICA emphasizes the importance of constituting panels with judges from different cultural and geographical backgrounds. This helps ensure that the deliberations and discussions reflect a diversity of legal traditions, perspectives and approaches, further strengthening the fairness, independence, credibility of the process and access to a fair trial.
A Court’s decision can leave room for various interpretations and comments as for its legal merits; that is fair and accepted by all the judges. The Court is confident in the soundness of the proceedings 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.
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