Here's the thing, as Crash.net reports: Formula 1 journalism has crossed into some seriously wild territory after a British reporter claims he has been barred from the paddock for the remainder of the season. Jonathan McEvoy, who has spent the last two decades covering the sport as the Daily Mail's F1 correspondent, says the FIA has stripped him of his media credentials for the final three rounds.
The ban stems from an opinion column written by McEvoy regarding a first-lap battle between Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the Mexico City Grand Prix. In that piece, McEvoy labelled Leclerc a “sneaky little b******”—a remark he later defended in a follow-up column as “light hearted” and “joshing”. The Daily Mail confirmed that McEvoy received an official letter on Thursday from FIA general manager Alberto Villarreal informing him of the decision.
According to the letter cited by McEvoy, the governing body stated that the article did not meet the professional standards expected of accredited media representatives covering the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The ban applies directly to the season-ending triple-header in Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. Daily Mail head of sport Chris Dean slammed the move, calling it an unprecedented and outrageous attack on the freedom of the press and arguing that the FIA had reacted in a heavy-handed manner to mild and fair criticism.
Alongside the Leclerc remarks, McEvoy's columns detailed a tense post-race debrief involving Hamilton, Leclerc, and Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur. Seven-time world champion Hamilton later insisted that he and Leclerc had squashed the incident during further clear-the-air talks ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil. However, McEvoy alleged that Vasseur had reported him to the FIA, firing back with scathing remarks calling the Ferrari boss a “tubby little nobody” and a chuckling buffoon out of his depth.
This incident is not the first time media access and driver relations have collided in the paddock recently. The report also notes that at this year's Japanese Grand Prix, The Guardian's Giles Richards was removed from a news conference by Red Bull driver Max Verstappen following a disagreement dating back to the end of 2025.
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