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The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the governing body of Formula One, has revoked the credential of a reporter for the remainder of the season after writing a scathing column about Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
On Thursday, Daily Mail motor racing writer Jonathan McEvoy was banned for the remainder of the 2026 season for an opinion piece he wrote on Nov. 4 where he called Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc a “sneaky little b*****d” in the headline. (The word “bastard” was censored.)
The FIA issued a statement to Front Office Sports following its decision:
“As set out in the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship Guidelines, media accreditation is granted at the sole discretion of the FIA and may be revoked at any time without notice. The Guidelines state that the highest standards of fairness are expected as a minimum requirement for media accreditation.
“The FIA considers that the article by Jonathan McEvoy on 4 November fell short of the standards of professionalism expected, and as such his media accreditation has been temporarily withdrawn. This decision relates solely to the reporter in question, and does not affect the publication’s ability to nominate an alternative representative.”
Chris Dean, the Daily Mail’s head of sport, condemned the FIA’s decision in a statement to FOS, and asked the FIA to reinstate McEvoy immediately: “This is an unprecedented and outrageous attack on the freedom of the Press. We are in dangerous territory when the FIA react in such a heavy-handed way to some mild and fair criticism of one driver.”
He added that the FIA’s ban only affects McEvoy and not all of the Daily Mail. The outlet will announce coverage plans “in due course.”
McEvoy criticized LeClerc after an incident in the opening lap with fellow Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton at the Mexico Grand Prix. While fighting for the lead of the race, LeClerc and Hamilton raced off the track, allowing Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to take the lead. LeClerc would be handed a five-second penalty for the incident.
In a separate story Thursday, McEvoy explained that FIA general manager Alberto Villarel informed him that his “accreditation was being revoked until the end of the year, to be restarted at the start of next season.” Dean told FOS that they “assume” he will gain accreditation again in 2027 because the ban was only for the rest of this year.
“He said that his president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali liked me,” McEvoy wrote, claiming he had also become “a pawn in a wider Formula One game.”
McEvoy then suggested that the ban was likely done at the request of Ferrari team president Fred Vasseur, whom he referred to as a “tubby little nobody” and a “chuckling buffoon well out of his depth at the world’s most prestigious team.”
“And how brittle are they, people like Vasseur, that took exception to a few words, in a joshing column, almost light-hearted, and they react like this? Paid millions for their work, stellar and expert work, and stopped for selfies everywhere they go. But one expression of criticism, spoken tongue-in-cheek, and they squeal this loudly!” McEvoy wrote.
Formula One has three scheduled races remaining for the 2026 season: Las Vegas (Nov. 19–21), Qatar (Nov. 27–29), and Abu Dhabi (Dec. 4–6).
But the drivers’ and constructors’ championships have already been decided, with Kimi Antonelli clinching his first drivers’ title at the Mexico GP and Mercedes securing the constructors’ championship last weekend in Brazil.
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