Sergio Perez admits he may have to look at options beyond Force India if his future is not decided before next weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.
Over past months Perez has been the subject of rumours linking him with a possible move to either Renault or Williams for 2017, but such talk has since cooled and it now looks almost certain the Mexican will remain at Force India for next year. At Monza, Perez said he hoped to reveal his plans during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, but behind-the-scenes delays in finalising the deal means he has been unable to make an announcement.
The Mexican expects to be able to finally confirm his decision by the end of next week, but warns he may have to look elsewhere if a deal cannot be agreed by Japan.
"Obviously I want to keep my career in Formula One going so I cannot wait much longer," Perez said. "I expect everything will be done by next week. I see no reason why [not] but I am not in a position to confirm anything, because of my past experience nothing has been done, so until it's done and signed then it's really done.
"At the moment I am just considering one team. There are some other options on the table, quite interesting options but at the moment I hope that it works out with one team and if it doesn't by next week we will have to look [at] something else."
When asked if he would wait to announce his intentions at his home grand prix at Mexico at the end of October, Perez insisted that is not an option.
"I don't think I can take that long, because the longer you take the less options are available. People are not going to wait forever for you. I believe that next week is crucial to sort out my future."
Despite the recurring hold ups, Perez remains hopeful that a deal can be struck in time and says he is not worried about the ongoing situation.
"My deals are quite complicated in regards of my sponsors, [they] obviously have to do the deals first so we must make sure that everything is in place and hopefully they can come into an agreement soon, because if they don't it will be quite difficult.
"I'm not worried. I believe that I'm in a good position, thankfully there is a lot of interest out there which makes you feel in a good position, just focusing on the job. At the end of the day if things doesn't work out as you want then you have to look somewhere else."