FIA responds to Briatore's McLaren allegations after controversial Monaco ruling

Gasly was stripped of his third-place finish after the ICA ruled in favour of appeals lodged by McLaren and Red Bull, restoring two five-second penalties originally handed to the Alpine driver for pit-lane speeding. The decision returned Red Bull's Isack Hadjar to the final podium position and dropped Gasly to seventh.

Following the ruling, Alpine executive adviser Briatore questioned the independence of one of the four judges who heard the case, Filippo Marchino. Briatore claimed Marchino had links to McLaren, pointing to his participation in a McLaren event in Beverly Hills in 2018 and alleged involvement between McLaren and the One Drop Foundation, a charity associated with the judge.

He also criticised Marchino's conduct during the hearing, claiming the judge had acted more like a prosecutor than an independent member of the panel.

The FIA has now set out the process governing its International Court of Appeal in response to the controversy.

According to the governing body, the ICA is the final appeal court for international motor sport and operates independently from the FIA. It deals with disputes concerning FIA statutes, rules, regulations and activities, with each case heard by a judging panel comprising at least three judges.

For Formula 1 appeals against decisions taken by the Stewards, the regulations require at least one judge on the panel to have been elected by the FIA General Assembly following a proposal from a group of at least five F1 competitors.

The FIA also explained that any candidates proposed by F1 teams are first subject to a due diligence process conducted by its Compliance Officer before being reviewed by an ad hoc panel and the Eligibility Assessment Committee.

Candidates deemed eligible are then put forward for election by the FIA General Assembly.

The FIA's explanation comes after McLaren team principal Andrea Stella strongly rejected Briatore's allegations.

Stella described the claims as serious, as he said: "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. And if anybody makes these kind of allegations, which seem quite serious, they are gonna have to take the responsibility for what they are saying in a public forum."

The FIA has stressed that the International Tribunal and International Court of Appeal are independent jurisdictions with their own administration separate from the main FIA structure.