Why Gasly podium hearing will take place in private

The FIA International Court of Appeal hearing into Pierre Gasly's podium reinstatement in Formula 1's Monaco Grand Prix will take place next week - but unusually behind closed doors.

Gasly was awarded third place after Alpine successfully overturned a post-race time penalty he was given for speeding in the pitlane.

This change of heart from the FIA was the result of Formula One Management admitting that there had been errors with its pitlane measurements that meant Gasly was wrongly deemed to have broken the speed limit.

The FIA's right of review decision to give Gasly his third place back did not go down well with other teams, which subsequently protested the decision.

Both Red Bull, whose driver Isack Hadjar had originally been classified third before Gasly was reinstated, and McLaren, whose driver Oscar Piastri had served a speeding penalty in the race, elected to take the matter to the FIA's International Court of Appeal.

A hearing has now been set for the FIA's headquarters in Paris on August 25. 

However, in a step away from normal process, the session will take place behind closed doors with the public and media barred.

Under the FIA's judicial rules, International Court of Appeal hearings for anything other than cost cap breaches are "open to the media and to the public".

There is a clause though that states: "The president of the hearing may however decide to conduct all or part of the hearings in closed sessions for public order reasons or in order to preserve the confidentiality of data."

A statement issued by the FIA said that the judging panel had elected not to allow the media and public access to this hearing because of a request from the parties involved in the case.

"Upon decision of the judging panel and as requested by the parties involved in this case, for confidentiality reasons the above hearing will be closed to public, media and any person who is not authorised to attend it," it said.

What has prompted the request for confidentiality has not been revealed, but it most likely relates to the details surrounding how pitlane measurements are made and how teams calculate speeds.

A verdict on any International Court of Appeal hearing typically takes up to three weeks to be made, but the FIA has said that on this occasion a ruling will be made "as soon as possible".