"Absolutely not at all," he said when asked how sure he is of his future. "As far as I am concerned I don't see a decision being made any time soon because I don't see anybody being able to guarantee money right now, or tomorrow or the next day. I think it will drag on for quite some time and I am a professional driver and at some point I will need to make sure that I have a job for next year. And when the time comes I will have to make a decision.

"It was not a one-year contract [signed with STR], it was a three-year deal, obviously with options. And in the end it does not matter whether you have a three-year deal or not - there is always a line in the contract which says that if they are not happy with you they can get rid of you. The fact is that there is no such thing as a sure deal in racing, whether it is Formula One or any other series. As long as it works it's good for everyone and then it is all rosy, but if it doesn't work out as expected, then ciao! That's the way it is.

"If nobody is able to assemble enough solid funding I guess - from what [team principal] Franz [Tost] is saying - I am number one on the list because to change two drivers in a team is always a tough thing to do, and that is not their preferred solution, for sure.

"Actually Franz wanted to keep both Sebastian and me, but obviously Sebastian has moved on to Red Bull and I don't have the money, so this makes things quite difficult..."

Bourdais added that with his current focus being to retain his F1 slot, there was no 'Plan B' if the drive with Toro Rosso didn't materialise – admitting that the lack of certainty over his future was scary.

"As far as I am concerned right now my priority is to stay here, but at some point I will have to make up my mind and take a potentially very difficult decision," he said. "In the meantime it is scary because I don't know what I'll be doing next year."