Veteran F1 journalist Jonathan McEvoy has discovered that a long career covering Formula 1 does not necessarily guarantee a place in its paddock when one crosses a line with the sport’s governing body.
The Daily Mail correspondent, who has spent two decades reporting on F1, has been barred from attending the final three races of the 2026 season after the FIA revoked his media accreditation following comments he made about Charles Leclerc and Ferrari.
But rather than take the punishment quietly, McEvoy has gone on the offensive, directing a particularly venomous broadside at Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur, whom he suspects of having alerted the governing body to his reporting.
Leclerc jibe lands journalist in FIA firing line
The spark was an opinion piece dissecting Charles Leclerc’s opening-lap clash with Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton at the Mexico City Grand Prix earlier this month.
McEvoy branded the Monegasque driver a “sneaky little bas***d” and aired dirty laundry regarding a “tense” post-race debrief involving Leclerc, Hamilton, and Vasseur.
Although Hamilton insisted ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix that the teammates had “squashed” their on-track friction during clear-the-air talks, the FIA’s patience had already evaporated.
On Thursday, FIA general manager Alberto Villarreal informed McEvoy that his pass had been revoked.
“The FIA believes that your article does not meet the professional standards expected of media representatives accredited to cover the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.”
Daily Mail head of sport Chris Dean predictably erupted over the suspension.
“This is an unprecedented and outrageous attack on the freedom of the press,” Dean fumed. “We are in dangerous territory when the FIA reacts in such a heavy-handed way to some mild and fair criticism of one driver.”
A scorched-earth rebuttal
McEvoy initially claimed his jab at Leclerc was merely “light hearted” and “joshing”. Yet, when handed a microphone to defend his journalistic decorum, he immediately reached for a flamethrower.
Accusing Vasseur of “grassing” him up to authorities, McEvoy derided the Frenchman as a “tubby little nobody”.
"A chuckling buffoon well out of his depth at the world's most prestigious team, he is a prickly character and I don't like him and he doesn't like me,” McEvoy added.
How terribly reassuring to see a seasoned reporter demonstrate the exact restraint and diplomatic poise the FIA accused him of lacking.
If calling a driver names earns a three-race timeout, launching schoolyard body-shaming at a team boss practically begs the governing body to shred his pass permanently.
The paddock freeze-out mirrors a broader chill between F1’s stars and the press, echoing the Japanese Grand Prix earlier this year when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen booted The Guardian’s Giles Richards from a press conference over a lingering dispute from late 2025.
For McEvoy, however, turning a minor slap on the wrist into a scorched-earth vendetta may guarantee his exile stretches well beyond Abu Dhabi.
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