Christian Klien is facing his fourth straight season on the F1 sidelines unless he is able to secure a race seat at either Campos Meta or USF1. The Austrian driver came close to securing a seat at Sauber Ferrari his year, but ultimately lost out to Pedro de la Rosa.
Klien told his official website that he remains in discussions with teams that still have a potential vacancy, but admitted that drivers with a significant budget are more likely to step up to Formula One this year.
While the former Jaguar and Red Bull racer targets a race seat this year, another season as a test and reserve driver remains an option. Klien pointed out that former test drivers such as Tonio Liuzzi and de la Rosa have landed race deals.
"My focus at the moment is clearly aimed at the Formula One," he said when asked if a return to Le Mans could be a possibility. "As long as there are cockpits available I will try hard."
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Mercedes test and reserve driver Nick Heidfeld, may not even take part in the pre-season test programme.