Ferrari Eyeing Surprise Move After Shock Hamilton Contract Decision Report?!

Hello everybody, my name is James, hope you're doing well and welcome back to another video and today we're going to be talking about updates on Yuki Tsunoda and Ferrari. If you enjoy the video make sure to leave a like and subscribe for more Formula 1 content, also make sure to follow me and exit James' pitlane, I'll leave a link in the description but let's jump straight into the video. So let's start with Yuki Tsunoda and as we know he was promoted into the main Red Bull team from the second race of the season from the Red Bull Junior team and his promotion came following Liam Norton struggling in that second Red Bull seat with him being demoted back to the Red Bull Junior team. But Tsunoda has also struggled to extract pace from the car alongside Max Verstappen scoring points at just six of the 18 Grands Prix he's entered with Red Bull and at the last Grand Prix in Mexico, Tsunoda finished in 11th place. However, Red Bull team boss Laurent Mechies has praised Tsunoda for the speed on display last time out in Mexico, insisting his 11th place finish did not reflect his true pace. With Mechies saying, as quoted by Racing News 365, Yuki had his best weekend in a long time. We've said that a few times but it's true. He was very, very close in qualifying to Max. I think it was two tenths in Q2. The race, the first stint was very, very strong as well. Two tenths, three tenths from Max on the same very long first stint on the medium. Then after, fair enough, we left him out a bit longer because it was an advantage for us to do that and we had a slightly long pit stop. We killed a few points that he would have scored on merit. Now, as we know, Red Bull is currently evaluating its driver lineups for 2026, both at Red Bull and the Red Bull Junior team. And it's been widely reported that Isaac Hajar, who drives for the Red Bull Junior team, could replace Tsunoda at Red Bull next year. However, Tsunoda's performances have improved in the second half of the season. They've been consistent but, you know, he got a P6 finish in Baku, for example. That was a strong drive from Tsunoda, considering where his performances had been previously. And following some improved performance from Tsunoda, Mekis has insisted that Red Bull is in no rush to come to a decision, with him going on to say, and of course, it's one of the reasons why we want to take a bit more time before we make a decision on the drivers. Yuki is making steps forward. The other kids are making steps forward as well, so we have no reason to rush the decision. We will take a bit more time. But let's move on to Ferrari. And, as we know, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are contracted with the team until at least the end of 2026. But, as we know, this has not been a good year for Ferrari. Last year, they were fighting for the Constructors' Championship to the last race of the season. This year, they're not in the fight for the Constructors' title. That's been won by McLaren, and Ferrari may not even finish P2. So, not a great year for Ferrari. And there have been reports about the futures of their drivers. I mean, Leclerc, for example, has been frequently linked with a move away from Ferrari this year. However, speaking at last month's United States Grand Prix, Leclerc dismissed suggestions that he's looking for a team switch, insisting that taking Ferrari back to the top is his only obsession. Meanwhile, Hamilton is his first year at Ferrari, and it's not been the year he would have wanted. You know, he sits 64 points behind his teammates in the driver's standings, and he's yet to secure a Grand Prix podium in 20 appearances for the team. I mean, there have been good performances in 2025 from Hamilton, like his sprint win in China, a few P4 finishes, and I reckon he could have maybe got a Mexico podium, but he ended up getting a 10 second time penalty, so that took him out of contention. However, according to a recent report from ESPN, several senior Patek figures have suggested to ESPN that the seven-time world champion will not be offered another contract when his expires at the end of 2026, given his performances. And now it's emerged that George Russell could be a potential target for Ferrari when either Lewis Hamilton or Charles Leclerc leave the team. As we know, Russell has been one of the star performers in 2025. That Mercedes is not a championship winning car. Despite that though, Russell has secured multiple wins, multiple podiums, and even though it's taken a while to get to this point, Russell has secured a contract extension with Mercedes. Now, Russell recently clarified his position, confirming that his contract contains a clause set to activate an automatic extension for 2027 if he meets certain performance targets next season. However, Planet F1 say that a report by Italian publication Correia della Sera has claimed that Ferrari could emerge as a potential alternative destination for Russell if his place at Mercedes comes under threat. It is said that Russell is apparently highly regarded at the top at Ferrari, having established himself as one of the best drivers on the grid since joining Mercedes from Williams at the start of 2022. Now, personally, I cannot see this happening. I think Russell will do enough to stay at Mercedes for 2027 and beyond, and I could imagine Russell winning a world championship at Mercedes. Maybe in the long term future, Russell would move to Ferrari, but I can't see anything happening in the short term. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. But that's going to be the video from me today. Thank you ever so much for watching. Make sure to like and subscribe for more videos and until the next one, take care, bye.