Jonathan McEvoy

Introduction

Jonathan McEvoy, the Daily Mail’s motor racing correspondent, has covered Formula One for 21 years and attended more than 400 Grands Prix . On 12 November 2026 he was notified in writing that the FIA, the sport’s governing body, had withdrawn his media accreditation for the remainder of the 2026 season with immediate effect — the penalty for a 4 November opinion column that called Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc a “sneaky little b*****d” in its headline . The letter came from FIA general manager Alberto Villarreal and rules McEvoy out of the final three races of the year in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, although the ban does not stop the Daily Mail from sending a different writer in his place .

Background Information

The column followed the Mexico Grand Prix on 1 November, where Leclerc and his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton clashed while fighting for the lead in the opening corners and both ran off the track . Leclerc was handed a five-second penalty and finished fourth; Verstappen won the race, with Hamilton second . Hamilton said after the race that the two had already settled it: “Me and Charles, we sat and spoke and we squashed it and we’re moving on” . The pair had also clashed at the start of the Italian Grand Prix in September, Ferrari’s home race, and Hamilton radioed “We’ve got big problems, big big problems” after the Mexico incident . In the 4 November Daily Mail column the word “bastard” was censored in the headline but written out in the story text .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Official sanction, not a legal case. McEvoy committed no offence and faces no charge: the FIA revoked his media accreditation under its own accreditation guidelines after judging a column unprofessional. He calls the remark light-hearted, his paper calls the ban an attack on press freedom, and his claim that Ferrari’s team principal instigated it is an allegation with no supporting proof.

Villarreal’s letter, seen by The Athletic, read: “The FIA considers that your article falls short of the standards of professionalism expected of media representatives accredited to cover the FIA Formula 1 world championship,” adding that the FIA had “decided to exercise its discretion under the 2026 FIA Formula 1 world championship accreditation guidelines to withdraw your media accreditation for the remainder of the 2026 season, with immediate effect” . In a statement to Front Office Sports the FIA said accreditation “is granted at the sole discretion of the FIA and may be revoked at any time without notice,” that McEvoy’s article “fell short of the standards of professionalism expected,” and that the decision “relates solely to the reporter in question” while leaving the publication free to nominate an alternative representative . McEvoy responded with a further column the same day the ban landed, alleging that Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur had “grassed” on him over what he wrote about Leclerc, and calling Vasseur a “tubby little nobody” and a “chuckling buffoon well out of his depth at the world’s most prestigious team” . A Ferrari team source, speaking anonymously, said Vasseur had not complained to the FIA, and an FIA spokesperson contacted by The Athletic pointed only to McEvoy’s own reporting — no evidence supports the claim that Ferrari drove the ban . McEvoy also wrote that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali “liked me,” that he had become “a pawn in a wider Formula One game,” and that Villarreal told him “in the kindest possible way” the accreditation would restart at the beginning of next season .

Public Reaction and Consequences

Daily Mail head of sport Chris Dean condemned the decision in statements to The Athletic and Front Office Sports: “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” . Dean demanded the accreditation be reinstated immediately, said the paper assumes McEvoy will be accredited again in 2027 because the ban covers only the rest of this year, and added that the Mail will announce its coverage plans for the closing races “in due course” . No other outlet, team or driver action against McEvoy has been reported .

Current Status

McEvoy is barred from FIA-accredited attendance at the Las Vegas Grand Prix (19–21 November), the Qatar Grand Prix (27–29 November) and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (4–6 December) . The stakes at those races are already low: Kimi Antonelli clinched the drivers’ championship at the Mexico GP and Mercedes sealed the constructors’ title in Brazil the following weekend . The FIA’s own statement calls the accreditation “temporarily withdrawn,” McEvoy reports it will restart at the start of the 2027 season, and he remains a Daily Mail employee who published the follow-up column alleging Vasseur’s role . No court, regulator or police process of any kind is involved .

Impact on Their Career/Life

A 21-year run of uninterrupted Grand Prix access — more than 400 races covered — now skips a third of a season, a stark break from the established routine of Britain’s best-known motor racing correspondent . Because the ban attaches to his personal accreditation rather than his newspaper, the Mail keeps its paddock seat and McEvoy loses his own, an arrangement press-freedom campaigners called unprecedented for punishing one writer’s opinion . The episode lands amid growing friction between the sport’s power structure and the reporters who cover it: in March, Max Verstappen refused to join a press conference in Japan until Guardian F1 writer Giles Richards left the room after Richards asked about a collision penalty that cost Verstappen the 2025 title . Whether the FIA’s discretion becomes a template for ousting critical correspondents, or a one-off retracted in 2027 as McEvoy expects, will be decided before next season’s first accreditation cycle .

Sources

New York Post, “F1 writer Jonathan McEvoy is banned over Charles Leclerc headline,” 13 November 2026. source
The Athletic, “F1 reporter banned from remaining 2026 races after criticizing Charles Leclerc,” 13 November 2026. source
Front Office Sports, “FIA Bans F1 Journalist for Calling Driver a ‘Sneaky Little Bastard’,” 13 November 2026. source
Bleacher Report, “F1 Reporter Banned for Rest of Season by FIA After Criticism of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc,” 13 November 2026. source
FormulaKite, “FIA suspends Daily Mail journalist Jonathan McEvoy from Formula One,” 13 November 2026. source