Mercedes protégé Pascal Wehrlein has now become the front-runner to land a race seat with Manor for 2016.
It is believed that the British minnow outfit had been waiting out on an eventual opportunity to sign Kevin Magnussen, a hope which has now vanished with the Dane's recent enrollment by Renault.
Consequently, talks are once again underway with Wehrlein and Mercedes, Manor's power unit supplier this year in Formula 1.
The German manufacturer has been grooming its DTM champion for the big time, allocating Wehrlein track time and testing experience with its own team as well as with Force India.
But budgetary constraint put a cap on Mercedes' support although a race seat at Manor appears to be within the manufacturer's determined means.
Manor remains however in discussion for with several other potential candidates, namely American Alexander Rossi and Malaysian-backed Rio Haryanto, as well as with its 2015 driver Will Stevens.
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