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Intrigue has often stalked Monza. And it did again on Friday when a man who was once thrown out of Formula One for life alleged corruption within the sport.
Flavio Briatore, playboy billionaire of 76 ,whose expulsion was later overturned in a French court, turned up with a piece of A4 paper in his hand to argue his case at a press conference ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.
He claimed that a ‘nasty’ judge at the governing FIA’s International Court of Appeal, an American-Italian lawyer called Filippo Marchino, had ‘a working relationship with McLaren’ and had favoured them in an arcane case relating to the Monaco Grand Prix in June.
Briatore’s comments came after the court’s judgment, published only a few hours earlier, had demoted his driver, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, from third place in the calendar’s showpiece race to seventh.
Marchino was one of four panel members in the court that determined to reinstate the two five-second time penalties originally handed to Gasly for speeding in the pit-lane.
The brief details: Alpine lodged a right of review to overturn the original penalties after it was found that officials had measured the pit lane incorrectly. Other drivers were affected by the mistake.
Flavio Briatore arrived with a piece of A4 paper as he claimed a ‘nasty’ judge at the governing FIA’s International Court of Appeal had ‘a working relationship with McLaren’
Briatore made the claim after Alpine's Pierre Gasly was demoted from his third place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix, after a court judgement reinstated two five-second penalties
This was reviewed by the court adjudicated by Marchion in August. As Gasly was ultimately relegated, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri moved up to fourth.
The flamboyant Briatore – whose role in orchestrating the result of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, a conspiracy that brought about a period away from the paddock under FIA sanction – came off a long run here in his home country with his accusations of collusion.
‘Filippo Marchino is a judge,’ said Briatore. ‘He was very nasty during the hearing. He was acting as a prosecutor.
‘And afterwards we found out what is the reason why he is so nasty.
‘He is very linked with McLaren. This I notice. So whatever (Andrea) Stella (McLaren’s team principal) said, the judge needs to be independent. And not somebody doing the speech for McLaren and somebody using the McLaren car in his One Drop Foundation charity. This is the point.
‘After that, the (terminology of the regulations) “point one, one, three, two, four, five”, I don’t care. I’m very surprised this guy has the link with McLaren.
‘We accept the result of the hearing.
‘But the panel should be completely independent, and you don’t need somebody linked with some team, especially the team involved with us in this situation. Only that. Nothing. Now we see. We think about what we can do next.’
McLaren boss Andrea Stella, right, claimed the press conference had been 'quite insulting' to his team and insisted the hearing had been 'conducted to the highest standards'
McLaren boss Stella, sharing a stage with Briatore during strained exchanges, said: ‘I find that this conference going in this direction is quite insulting to McLaren, for the reputation of a team that deserves a lot of respect.
‘And if anybody makes these kinds 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, and the whole International Court of Appeal, was conducted to the highest standards and we should not question this as has been the case.’
The FIA responded, saying: ‘The eligibility of candidates for the International Court of Appeal is checked by the Eligibility Assessment Committee (EAC) in accordance with FIA Statutes.
‘Candidates who meet the eligibility criteria and who are deemed eligible by the EAC are then put forward for election by the FIA General Assembly.’
On the track, George Russell was fastest in practice as he looks to narrow his deficit to Mercedes team-mate and championship-leader Kimi Antonelli from 59 points.
Russell is aided in this endeavour by the Italian having to start from the back of the grid after taking on a new engine.
Russell was one-tenth of a second ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the first skirmishes of a weekend during which he really needs to win to keep his boot in the door.
