Esteban Ocon's admission appears to confirm that the Frenchman will not be at Haas next season.

Ocon, who joined Haas last year having been dropped by Alpine, is one of several drivers on multi-year contracts, and though only in his second season with the American team it appears his time is at an end.

As was pretty much the case last year, he has been out-performed by his teammate Oliver Bearman, the Frenchman having lost further ground to the Briton this year.

While Bearman is currently on 18 points, Ocon has 3, and has been out-qualified nine times.

Team boss, Ayao Komatsu, has said on several occasions this year that the Frenchman needed to raise his game, and seemingly team owner Gene Haas has his eye on another driver from the Ferrari academy, Rafael Camara.

"At the moment I'm definitely a free agent for next year," said Ocon in Baku today when asked about next season.

"There are things in discussion that are out of my control," he added. "There are certain topics that are out of my control.

"I will keep pushing until the end of the year and see how it goes," he continued. Asked if Haas remains an option, he replied: "Let's see."

Camara is currently second in the F2 standings, with three rounds remaining, yet while Haas is understood to personally favour the Brazilian, another option could be McLaren youngster, Leonardo Foronoli, who recently tested for the American outfit.

When he entered F1 in 2016 with Manor, great things were expected of Ocon, who had beaten Max Verstapepn in F3, but the Frenchman never quite lived up to expectations.

It is rumoured that in the wake of Colton Herta's decision not to continue in F2 next season, Ocon could be targeted by Cadillac which is understood to be unhappy with Valtteri Bottas.