Stella fires stark warning at Briatore over 'insulting' McLaren allegations

The traditional Team Principals’ press conference at Monza turned into quite a show, with Flavio Briatore and Andrea Stella taking centre stage following the major news that had emerged earlier in the day, when the FIA International Court of Appeal reinstated Pierre Gasly’s Monaco Grand Prix penalties.

Briatore levelled serious accusations, questioning the independence of one of the judges involved in the hearing. The Alpine Executive Advisor claimed that the judge had links to the Woking-based team and argued that his conduct during the proceedings raised concerns over his impartiality.

“What is very strange was the fourth judge in the panel, and one of the judges acted like a prosecutor. For this, (it's) not a big problem. The problem is, it's very linked with the McLaren company, because we have a nice picture of this guy at the speech for the McLaren in 2018 in MSO Beverly Hills,” he said.

Initially, Stella preferred not to engage directly with Briatore’s allegations, instead pointing to McLaren’s official statement and making clear that he was willing to discuss the outcome of the case itself: “If we want to talk about that, then I'm happy to comment. We have just released also a statement. Or if you want to talk about this kind of Allegations, then I think that's not convenient.”

Shortly afterwards, however, Stella chose to respond firmly to Briatore’s allegations, making clear that he considered the direction of the discussion insulting to McLaren and its reputation.

The Italian stressed the seriousness of the claims being made and warned that anyone raising such allegations in a public forum would have to take responsibility for them. He also strongly defended the FIA International Court of Appeal proceedings, insisting that the hearing had been conducted to the highest standards and should not be called into question in such a manner.