The FIA has banned a veteran Formula 1 journalist for the remainder of 2026 after he criticised Charles Leclerc.
Jonathan McEvoy, the Daily Mail’s F1 correspondent for more than two decades, had his paddock pass revoked following an opinion column about the growing tensions at Ferrari.
According to The Telegraph’s Tom Cary, McEvoy described Leclerc as a “sneaky little b*stard” following his controversial Mexico GP battle with Lewis Hamilton.
He also reported details of a tense post-race meeting involving Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur.
In a letter sent to McEvoy on Thursday, FIA general manager Alberto Villarreal explained the decision.
“The FIA considers that your article falls short of the standards of professionalism expected of media representatives accredited to cover the FIA Formula One World Championship,” he wrote.
The governing body therefore withdrew McEvoy’s accreditation “for the remainder of the 2026 season, with immediate effect”.
The move follows Ben Sulayem’s recent warning that journalists could be banned under the FIA’s campaign against online abuse.
“If they are part of the media, we ban them because we have the authority,” he said last month.
However, the Daily Mail’s head of sport, Chris Dean, condemned the decision as an “unprecedented and outrageous attack on the freedom of the press”.
“We are in dangerous territory when the FIA reacts in such a heavy-handed way to some mild and fair criticism of one driver.”
Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone was equally critical.
“It’s crazy. I don’t know why the FIA would ever do that,” he said.
“I look forward to reading what he’s writing. I don’t have to, it’s my choice to do that. I think it’s completely mad.”
Cary, meanwhile, revealed in the Telegraph: “Earlier this year, the FIA revoked the pass of a journalist who had reported on every race for 37 years without missing one.”
