Toto Wolff admits that Sebastian Vettel is not Mercedes’ "first priority" when considering the team’s driver lineup for 2021.
Technical boss James Allison admitted this week it is "difficult to imagine" the quadruple world champion switching from Ferrari to Mercedes.
And Valtteri Bottas’ revealed that he received a "pretty straight message" from his bosses recently that "no, they are not considering Seb".
Team boss Wolff now tells Osterreich newspaper: "I stick to what I said before.
"Sebastian is a four-time world champion. He has helped shape the past decade and is now surprisingly on the market.
"But right now the focus is on our drivers. Sebastian is not our first priority, but you should never rule it out," the Austrian added.