Briatore accuses judge of McLaren links after Gasly loses Monaco podium

MONZA, Italy, Sept 4 : Alpine Formula One boss Flavio Briatore accused an appeal court judge of having links to McLaren on Friday after a judgment that stripped his Renault-owned team of third place at last June's Monaco Grand Prix.

Alpine's French driver Pierre Gasly finished third on track on June 7 but was demoted to seventh when two five-second penalties for pit-lane speeding were applied post-race, with fellow Frenchman Isack Hadjar promoted to third for Red Bull.

That decision was overturned after a right to review on June 12, stewards accepting Renault-owned Alpine's evidence that there had been a timekeeping error. The FIA's International Court of Appeal then met last month to hear a McLaren and Red Bull challenge, with the verdict issued at the Italian Grand Prix.

Renault-owned Alpine said they were disappointed and frustrated with the outcome and felt they had been "unjustly punished".

PRESS CONFERENCE CLASH  

The day took an extraordinary twist when Briatore, appearing with McLaren principal Andrea Stella and Ferrari's Fred Vasseur, used the opportunity of an already scheduled FIA-organised Friday press conference to make public allegations about one of the four judges.

Naming the judge, Briatore said he had been "very nasty" during the hearing, acted like a prosecutor and appeared to have a "working relationship, kind of" with McLaren.

"After, we found out what is the reason why so nasty, this guy. He is very linked with McLaren," he alleged, saying Alpine had photographic evidence of the individual giving a speech at a McLaren event in Beverly Hills in 2018 and having a charitable foundation that McLaren had contributed cars to.

"The judge needs to be independent. And not somebody doing the speech for McLaren and