Esteban Ocon has revealed he is in "deep conversations" with two F1 teams, as he looks to sow up his future after it was confirmed he would leave Alpine at the end of 2024.
The 27-year-old will end his five-year association with Team Enstone, and is most heavily linked with a move to Haas - where it is expected he would partner Oliver Bearman.
However, the one-time grand prix winner has confirmed a second team is in the mix, with serious talks progressing with both.
He remains confident a deal will be struck with either team and that he will be racing in F1 next season. If neither comes to fruition, it would not be the first time Ocon has found himself on the outside looking in.
In 2018, the Frenchman could not secure a home for the following season and had to endure a year on the sidelines before replacing Nico Hulkenberg at Renault.
"We are in two deep conversations at the moment," Ocon told media including RacingNews365. "Discussions are going well. At the moment, I'm confident with the future, and hopefully it will be sorted soon."
When asked how confident he felt a deal would be struck with one of the parties and that it would not be a repeat of 2018, he replied: "Yeah, absolutely, I'm confident. But as you said, it's not final. I was confident, as well, at the end of 2018 - but for different reasons, it didn't work out - we have the experience of that."
Ocon, would not, however, be drawn into answering how confident he felt in percentage terms, jokingly dismissing the question by quipping back: "You want to read the contract, the draft of the contract?" and laughing.
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Driver market has 'never been straightforward'
The futures of a number of drivers, including Ocon, are contingent upon the movements of Carlos Sainz, who is the top priority for Williams, Alpine and Stake, who will become Audi in 2026.
Whilst Haas are not part of that equation, the second "deep conversation" Ocon is having will be either the former or the lattermost team - with Stake the more likely and widely-touted option than Williams.
It is unusual for the driver market to be reliant on the decision of one driver, and with factors outside of pure pace and performance also a consideration, once the prime mover (Sainz) chooses, the rest of the dominoes will likely fall quickly.
"Well, I think it's never been straightforward," Ocon replied when asked for his thoughts the driver market, and how factors other than performance are at play, as well the effect of decisions hinging on one driver.
"The markets have always been very strange, and there's always been reasons, not only on performance-side. Obviously, there's been a lot of things going on.
"I honestly don't think it is my favourite area of talking - I prefer to race on track than talking about that. But yeah, it is a big thing, for sure. It's always been a very silly thing in Formula 1, this driver market topics, but it is interesting when you get in there - interesting to hear the views of very high end people on many different things.
"But in the end, it turns out to be mostly on performance. It's not only on that, but it's still mostly on performance, so I still have hope for the sport."
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