Fernando Alonso freely admits he is on the "lists" being drawn up by top teams Mercedes and Red Bull amid the swirling 2025 driver market silly season.
Flavio Briatore, who still oversees the management of the Aston Martin driver’s career, was spotted in the Bahrain paddock last week meeting with the likes of Toto Wolff (Mercedes) and Christian Horner (Red Bull).
"I don’t have a contract," Alonso, 42, has now told AS newspaper in the Jeddah paddock, "so it is better to be on those lists than to be on the list for other championships, or for retirement."
The Spaniard insists, however, that he is making no decisions for now - including about whether to hang up his helmet at the end of the 2024 season.
"I will decide for the future in the coming weeks," said the two-time champion. "I will talk to myself first and decide if I want to sacrifice everything in my life to be 100 percent prepared for F1.
"It will be my decision."
With Lewis Hamilton vacating his cockpit at Mercedes for 2025, the ’silly season’ could be in even greater turmoil if it’s true the Horner scandal might trigger Max Verstappen’s departure at Red Bull.
"I will follow with interest what happens with Max," Alonso said, "but it’s a question for him.
"There have been so many rumours in the last two or three months that it’s hard to believe them all. First of all it is Max’s question to answer.
"First of all, for me, I have to decide if I want to continue racing. It would be selfish if I only thought about myself being an F1 driver, which is very good, but I’m not that kind of person," Alonso explained.
"If I commit, it is because there is a possibility of winning races and I am going to give 100 percent to an organization that will give also give 100 percent. There are many questions," he added, "but that is the second part.
"The first part of the future is my personal decision."