Valtteri Bottas says he has a "Plan B" and "even a Plan C" in case he is not retained by Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton's teammate next year.
The Finnish driver is second in this year's drivers' championship but faces an uncertain summer break as he waits on Mercedes to decide on his contract option for 2020. He faces competition for the drive from reserve driver Esteban Ocon, with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff planning to make a decision during F1's summer break.
Bottas started the year with two wins from the first four races, but his form has dropped off at recent rounds and he now trails Hamilton by 62 points in the standings. The last two races were particularly costly after Bottas crashed out of the German Grand Prix and finished eighth in Hungary, and although Wolff says he will not make a decision based on one-off results, Bottas faces a long summer waiting for a decision.
"I'm not really nervous, but for sure it would be nice to hear some news from the team, to know what they want to do as well," he said on Sunday night in Hungary. "But what can I do?
"I don't think one race is going to change anything and I'm sure we'll get some more news soon."
Ocon has been linked to drives at Renault and Haas if he does not secure the Mercedes seat, which could also represent options for Bottas if Wolff's decision goes the other way. The Finn said he is already lining up potential options if Mercedes does not retain him.
"Of course when you are in this situation, as with everything in Formula One, you need to have a Plan B and, sometimes, even a Plan C," he said. "For sure when you're talking about stuff it's always good to have different plans and that's what I'm doing."
Bottas admitted the extra pressure of not knowing his future is not helping his bid to fight Hamilton for the championship.
"For sure when contract-wise you're on the limit, it never helps," he added. "Some people might think some drivers perform better under pressure when things are on the limit but, for sure, for me it doesn't help.
"I can't say that going into Turn 1 [in Hungary] I was thinking about it -- I don't think so. ... I was very hungry for the win, no matter if there are contract talks or not. I wanted to win this race, so I took the risk.
"[It] just didn't go quite as planned, it could have been a lot different, we're talking about centimeters here and there, so ... that's how it goes."