New Ferrari target suggested as Lewis Hamilton 'red flags' theorised

Your newest dose of F1 news is here, so check out all you need to know from Saturday’s F1 news cycle!

With a quiet non-race weekend upon us, here’s everything you need to know this Saturday.

F1 news: George Russell a target for Ferrari to replace Lewis Hamilton?

According to a fresh report in Italian media, George Russell could be a target for Ferrari to pursue to replace Lewis Hamilton, should the seven-time F1 World Champion not continue past the end of 2026.

It is widely believed that the multi-year contract Hamilton signed to join Ferrari from Mercedes – worth a massive $57million (£43.3m/€49.2m) according to PlanetF1.com estimates – is due to expire at the end of 2026.

However, it was claimed in August by Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport that Hamilton’s contract contains an option – purely on his side – allowing him to extend his deal until the end of 2027.

If true, the clause would give Ferrari ‘little say’ on Hamilton’s future even if he continues to underperform in 2026.

However, it is thought unlikely that Hamilton would want to continue in 2027 if his on-track struggles persist for another season.

Felipe Massa ‘reprimanded’ by Ferrari in 2009

Felipe Massa’s ongoing court case against the FIA, FOM, and Bernie Ecclestone has seen him claim that he “refused” to publish a statement drafted for him by Ferrari in 2009, a year after the events of the Singapore Grand Prix.

With Massa and Alonso becoming teammates at Ferrari in 2010, the Brazilian’s comments alleging Alonso had been in awareness of the circumstances of ‘Crashgate’ while at Renault meant his Ferrari bosses took notice.

Massa wrote: “In October 2009 I also told journalists that I believed Fernando Alonso (the other Renault driver who won because of Nelson’s crash) knew it was on purpose.

“When Ferrari found out, GSA (the firm who handled the team’s contracts) wrote me a letter on 16 October 2009 reprimanding me about making public comments about Fernando Alonso.

“I found out before my accident in July 2009 that Alonso would drive for Ferrari in the 2010 F1 season.

“The letter was signed by Henry Peter (a Ferrari lawyer).

“Ferrari then drafted a statement for me to issue but I refused to make that statement.

“Instead, I just said that it was time to look to the future.”

Yuki Tsunda hopeful as he ‘still wants’ Red Bull future

With his future at Red Bull and in Formula 1 hanging in the balance, Yuki Tsunoda believes he maximised all the areas he could control during last weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, and is hopeful his performances in the second half of this season have been enough to convince the team that he is the right man to be signed alongside Max Verstappen for F1 2026.

“So, hopefully they consider that, but also, let’s see. It’s up to them, but I’ll just keep pushing where I can control and that’s it,” he said.

“I’m always motivated. In the second half of this season, I think at least I consistently showed something right. [Sunday] also could have ended up easily with a thing that I can’t bring it back home, quite nicely to the team.

“But I think this is my direction. I still want it, obviously.”

Oliver Harden: Ferrari might have red flags about Lewis Hamilton documents

Lewis Hamilton’s desire to submit documents of feedback to Ferrari could be raising red flags at Maranello, believes PlanetF1.com writer Oliver Harden.

In his latest column, Harden wrote, “It could just as easily be interpreted as a lack of trust in the people around him and the processes currently in place at Ferrari.

“If you want a job done properly, do it yourself.

“However good his intentions might be, that’s the message a driver risks conveying – even subconsciously – when he won’t let the team breathe unless he knows about it first.

“The really interesting thing about Lewis’s new outlook?

“It is one positively covered in the fingerprints of Vettel, who was engaged to the point of interference throughout his own Ferrari career and whom we know Hamilton consulted more than once before he linked up with the team at the start of this year.”

Adrian Newey on gridwalk investigations

Adrian Newey is well-known for eyeing up rival’s cars on the grid, and has even been photographed doing so by PlanetF1.com on a few occasions this year.

As for why he does it, the esteemed designer has explained his logic.

“I think all teams have effectively, spy photographers,” he said.

“Generally speaking, the other teams know who those spy photographers are, and run around trying to cover things up.

“In digital photography, you end up with God knows how many thousands of pictures each race weekend. You then try to use whatever software to categorise them, etc. But nevertheless, you’ve got this huge amount of photographs, which you could easily spend the next week looking through, if you weren’t careful.

“So, I look at cars on the grid for two reasons. First of all, because the photographs you then get, are clearly in 2D, and quite often they’re not quite the angle you’re interested in.”

New Ferrari target suggested as Lewis Hamilton ‘red flags’ theorised

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