Logan Sargeant, recently ousted by Williams mid-season, looks set to face at least a year on the sidelines in 2025.
That is despite the fact that the Indycar team Meyer Shank Racing published new photos of the American driver undergoing a seat fitting ahead of a forthcoming test.
Sargeant, 23, will test the Indycar next Tuesday.
"Logan’s manager is also George Russell’s manager," team co-owner Michael Shank said, "and I got to know him through (family friend) Oswaldo (Negri) really well, too.
"He’s always stayed in touch just to keep an eye out and keep watching."
However, Shank has no vacant race cockpit to offer Sargeant for 2025.
"I think when it all came down and his deal went away at Williams, I thought ’Well, this guy is a super license holder and did really well enough, let’s just see where this puts us’," he said.
"We tested Nyck de Vries a few years ago for the same reason," Shank added. "Now I know what Nyck is.
"In this case, I don’t have anything for him (Sargeant) for 2025, but I always have it in the back of my head if we got into a trouble spot and we wanted to try someone, we have a person that we can go to immediately.
"I think it’s just a rare opportunity to get to test someone who I think has some potential. You never know."