Article by Tudor Belivacă – Published on Thursday, 23 October 2025, 15:35 / Updated on Thursday, 23 October 2025 15:42
Hackers have set their sights on the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). These were ethical hackers who tested the security of various organizations and their websites. The conclusion of the test was clear: they managed to hack the International Federation website and obtain personal data about the pilots, such as passport.
Researcher Ian Carroll, who handled the operation, made the information public. The cybersecurity expert, together with his team, tested the FIA's security systems and discovered vulnerabilities that allowed them to access even sensitive data of Formula 1 drivers. All the information obtained was not misused, but was reported to the federation to improve its security, which it did.
How hackers managed to break into the FIA website: they got to Max Verstappen's passport
Hackers broke into the FIA's driver classification sites by registering with a regular user account and then exploiting loopholes in the system to gain administrator rights, according to sport.aktuality.sk.
“It appears we have had full administrative access to the FIA driver classification website,” the team relayed to Carroll. The data obtained was of great value, but was not exploited.
“We ended the testing after discovering that it was possible to gain access to Max Verstappen's passport, CV, licence, password and personal data. We had access to the data of all F1 drivers in the ranking and to sensitive information about the way the FIA works. We did not use access to passports or sensitive data, and all data obtained was deleted,” the team added.
The site contains data on nearly 7,000 pilots. The situation occurred in June, and after the hackers' warning, the FIA took steps to fix the loopholes in the system.
“The FIA became aware during the summer of a cyber incident affecting the FIA driver classification website. Immediate measures were taken to secure driver data and the FIA reported the matter to the competent data protection authorities in accordance with its obligations. The FIA also informed a small number of drivers affected by the incident. No other FIA digital platforms were affected by this incident,” the federation said in a statement.
