F1 News: FIA issue statement after extraordinary Flavio Briatore allegations

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FIA issue statement after extraordinary Flavio Briatore allegations

The FIA responds to controversial Alpine chief

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Saturday 5 September 2026 13:07

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The FIA have issued a strongly-worded statement in response to Friday's extraordinary allegations from Alpine chief Flavio Briatore in relation to the latest Monaco Grand Prix result change.

The result was changed again on Friday following an appeal hearing in Paris in late August, where Red Bull and McLaren contested the earlier decision to remove pit lane speeding penalties on Pierre Gasly.

Gasly had finished third in the race on June 7, before being demoted to P7 afterwards due to a pair of penalties. The following week Alpine successfully appealed, Gasly's penalties were removed and he returned to P3.

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Then came Friday's latest announcement with Gasly's penalties now reinstated, Gasly back down to P7 and Red Bull's Isack Hadjar back up to P3.

That was not the end of the matter though, as later in the day we got some quite astonishing fallout.

It was controversial Alpine chief Briatore who caused a sensation during the team representative press conference at the Italian Grand Prix by making some quite shocking allegations.

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Briatore's sensational allegations

The controversial Italian, who is Alpine's de facto team principal, called FIA judge Filippo Marchino 'nasty', complained that Marchino is 'very linked with McLaren', and called that alleged link 'quite unfair'.

Briatore complained repeatedly about the 'unfair' decision, spending the majority of his answers in the press conference complaining about Marchino and outlining what he called the FIA judge's links to McLaren.

He claimed: "This is very unfair. But you know, we accept the decision, but what is very strange was four judges in the panel. One of the judges act like a prosecutor. This is not a big problem.

"The problem is he’s very linked with the McLaren company, because we have a nice picture of this guy at a speech for McLaren in 2018 in MSO, Beverly Hills. He has a foundation, it’s called One Drop foundation, and McLaren gave two, three McLaren cars. This was quite unfair. One of the judges was linked with a team which was processing us."

Flavio Briatore - sensational allegations.

Stella fury at Briatore claims

Unsurprisingly, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella - sitting alongside Briatore in the press conference - was furious when Briatore made his claims.

"I find that this conference going in this direction is quite insulting for McLaren, for the reputation of a team that deserves a lot of respect," he began.

"And 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.

"The hearing, the whole International Court of Appeal, was conducted to the highest standards and we should not question this phase like it’s been done."

Andrea Stella was furious at Briatore's claims.

FIA hit back in strongest terms

Fast forward to Saturday morning, and we got the first official response from the FIA (F1's governing body) to the extraordinary allegations. It was strongly-worded in defence of the Paris hearing, and the way it was handled.

"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."

Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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F1 McLaren Alpine Monaco Grand Prix Flavio Briatore