Despite Red Bull F1 links, Lando Norris has reportedly signed a pre-contract agreement with Ferrari 

McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris has allegedly signed a pre-contract agreement with Ferrari despite latest news linking him with Red Bull.

The young British driver is one of the most sought after talents on the grid as he has continued to prove with his performance that he deserves a better car than the current MCL60. He recently finished a career-best second in his home race in Silverstone last weekend, fending off seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and finishing behind Max Verstappen.

Rumours about a move to Red Bull circulated on social media after Red Bull Advisor Helmut Marko and Lando Norris' manager were spotted having discussions with each other. However, as per F1 journalist Joe Saward, there are reports of Norris agreeing a pre-contract with Ferrari. He said:

"Norris and Albon were the subjects of wildly diverse rumours about the future over the weekend, with both being mentioned in connection with Ferrari and with Red Bull. Whether such moves make sense for either man in open to question but there are some who believe that Lando may already have some kind of pre-contract with Ferrari."

He added:

"I cannot see that as being a logical career path, given where Ferrari currently is, but then going to Red Bull and trying to beat Max Verstappen is also a career path from hell.

Lando Norris still believes that the MCL60 is a 'terrible' car

Despite a plethora of new upgrades to the car, the MCL 60 is not up to the F1 driver's expectation in slow speed corners, as proven in Silverstone.

As per PlanetF1, he said:

“These tracks allow us to look after the tyres well. Like I said, we’re very, very competitive in high speed. We’re almost on par with what Red Bull could achieve and actually, I would say towards the medium speed like Turn 15 here, Stowe, I would say we’re close to being the best car on the grid"

He added:

“Super, super high speed like Turn 9 [Copse], maybe not quite so much, but that was in qualifying and then when we come to the race we definitely maintain our performance when others seem to take a bit of a hit. And in doing so we can actually look after the tyres pretty well, especially when there’s no thermal limitation within tyre like there was necessarily today. But we do have a poor car – and I say poor, I would say pretty terrible in the slow-speed corners, extremely difficult to drive.

It will be fascinating to see if Lando Norris makes any major moves after his current stint at McLaren and whether the MCL60 will continue to improve over the rest of the year.