Stevens in ‘good position’ for Manor drive

Will Stevens is optimistic that he will remain with Manor in 2016 despite an ever-increasing number of drivers competing for the seats.

Manor are expected to take a massive step forward next season after securing Mercedes engines and signing a technical partnership with Williams.

That, coupled with the limited number of available seats, has made the team more attractive to drivers still seeking a place on the grid. And Manor have two.

Stevens is hoping that he'll take one of those while Mercedes protege Pascal Wehrlein is the front runner for the other.

"I'm not contracted, but in terms of the usual questions I am going to get asked 'is Wehrlein coming or is he not?' honestly I don't know," Stevens told Sky Sports F1.

"As I have said all year we are in a good position, we are talking to them at the minute and everything is moving in the right direction. We will see what happens next year, but at the moment we are happy with where we are at and what we are doing.

"Most contracts these days have things which make it easier to work long-term – it is pretty much the way everyone does them these days," he said.

"Obviously being my first year I wanted to get as much longevity to it as I could and that is why I say we are in a good position if we want to mutually work together again next year. There are two seats left and we are in a good position and will wait and see what happens in the next few weeks."

The Brit, who made his F1 debut Manor when it was still Marussia at the 2014 season-ending Abu Dhabi, acknowledges that there is increased competition for the team's seats.

"At the end of the day there are less and less seats available, there are always to be a lot of drivers hanging around looking to get into F1, or people who have already been there looking to get a seat.

"But I'm in a good position and if there are two drivers, five drivers, 10 drivers linked to a seat it doesn't change our approach. We go about it in the right way, I like to think I've done a good job this year with the team and working together for another year would be good.

"Personally, more and more people are getting linked with the seat, but there are probably only two seats left on the grid so everyone is going to get linked with it. Whether you are getting linked to it and whether you are actually in the frame are two different things in our opinion. There are probably a lot of people for competition, but I am not that worried about it to be honest."