Pascal Wehrlein admits that he could be deposed from his Sauber seat in 2018 by a Ferrari junior lurking in the wings.
The Swiss outfit canceled its Honda engine deal and extended its agreement with Ferrari, fueling speculation that the Scuderia will consider Sauber as its de facto 'B' team and training ground for its young talent.
"Obviously Ferrari want to promote their drivers, they have two strong drivers so it makes sense," said Wehrlein, referring to Scuderia young guns Antonio Giovinazzi and Charles Leclerc.
"As for my programme for 2018, I don't know anything yet," he added.
"But I don't have a backup plan. It's only August. This year I signed the contract in January and the year before it was even February, but I do hope I will find out soon what is coming for me in 2018."
A Mercedes protégé, Wehrlein wouldn't say if he would consider a stop-gap solution for 2018 as a reserve driver.
"There is no point discussing that now. Talks are underway. There are usually different options and you always go for the best one."
Finally, Wehrlein said he is expecting Sauber to now switch focus to its 2018 car.
"It is likely that the configuration of the car will remain until the last race in Abu Dhabi, but there are still things we can do with the settings."
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
