Mick Schumacher's "plan B" appears to be staying on the sidelines as a reserve driver in Formula 1.
While serving as Mercedes' reserve during the Singapore Grand Prix, the German driver acknowledged that his "plan A" is to land a race seat alongside Nico Hulkenberg at Audi-owned Sauber next year.
However, it seems likely that the Swiss-German outfit will retain Valtteri Bottas, while potentially preparing rookie Gabriel Bortoleto for a future race seat.
Schumacher, who was dropped by Haas at the end of 2022, insists he hasn't given up on returning to the F1 grid.
"Formula 1 is the big goal - it always was and it always will be," he told Sky Deutschland. "That's why everything else has to stand still for now.
"The options that exist alongside it have to wait."
Now 25, Schumacher pairs his Mercedes reserve role with a race seat for Alpine in the World Endurance Championship (WEC).
"It's important that my jobs as reserve driver and on the race track at Alpine go as well as possible," he said. "It went really well in Fuji," Schumacher added, referring to his recent podium finish in the WEC.
As for his Mercedes role, Mick explained that much of his work happens "more behind the scenes, so you don't see exactly what's going on there."
"But it's going well there too. So we're all confident that I'll continue doing it."
