Romain Grosjean says he is ready to give up on his ambitions of getting back into Formula 1 if he fails to land a race seat for 2012.
The Frenchman remains a contender for the second drive at Lotus Renault next season alongside Kimi Raikkonen, but that deal depends on the team agreeing to part ways with Vitaly Petrov, who has a contract in place.
Grosjean has been testing a BMW DTM car this week, and confessed that if F1 does not happen for him now – having impressed in two Friday outings this year for Lotus Renault – then he will have to be prepared set his grand prix ambitions aside.
"Formula 1 is a difficult world," Grosjean told AUTOSPORT. "I will keep my fingers crossed, but I think if it doesn't happen this time, it would be the time to think about something different.
"I took the choice at the beginning of this season to try again for Formula 1. The idea was to win GP2 and to get back to the top. But if for any reason it doesn't work out this way, then I think I will turn to an alternative."
Grosjean's opportunities elsewhere on the F1 grid are limited because he does not have major sponsorship backing behind him.