F1: Stevens not thinking of Manor back-up

Will Stevens has admitted he has not even thought about a Plan B, should his aim to remain on the Formula 1 grid with Manor next season fall through.

For now, Stevens is pinning all his hopes on retaining his seat with the squad with whom he spent 2015, albeit in a back-of-the-field battle with teammates Roberto Merhi and Alexander Rossi. Stevens remains confident he will be able to secure one of the only two seats left available in F1 for 2016.

On the possibility of a reserve role in F1 should he be cut by Manor, Stevens said: "I don't know. I'll worry about it if it comes to that. Right now I have every intention of being on the grid next year.

"If it was not looking good, or I was worrying about the situation, of course I'd look at other options. But right now I'm not looking at anything else, and my sole focus is on next year."

Suggested to Stevens he had to have something up his sleeve, he added: "I think 'worried' is completely the wrong word to use. Am I worried? No, because if I'm not on the F1 grid obviously you have to work towards getting back to it.

"There are 22 seats on the grid next year and hundreds of people who want to get into the sport. It's one of those things. Everything in life you've got to take as it comes, and everything happens for a reason.

"Obviously, I'm going to be massively disappointed if I don't get the seat. Of course I want the seat for next year, which is why I'm doing everything I can to make sure it happens. But I think it's wrong to look at Plans B, C, etc. at the moment because everything really is going in the right direction.

"Yes, if I don't get the seat I will be annoyed, disappointed and all those things, but right now I'm not because I'm confident in the people I've got around me and the people working away from the track on my behalf to make it happen."

Originally on Autosport.com