Marcus Ericsson has revealed that he is considering an IndyCar programme alongside his role as third driver with Sauber

The Swede, who won the Formula BMW UK title in 2007 and Japan F3 title in 2009, despite his close ties to Saubers owners, has been dropped for 2019 in favour of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi.

Though retained by the Swiss team as third driver and 'ambassador', Ericsson is keen to continue racing next season and is currently looking at a number of options, the "most attractive" being IndyCar.

"We're talking to some teams there and I think it is a realistic target," he told reporters at Suzuka today.

"We're also talking to teams in other categories as well," he admitted. "For me, I want to race in the highest level possible because I see myself coming back to Formula 1 in the future as well. To be able to come back to F1, I want to stay in single-seaters and fast cars. IndyCar is the best series to do that in.

"I've always looked at it and thought it to be really cool and the racing over there is amazing," said the 28-year-old, who has raised his game this season, but remained outshone by a dazzling teammate in the form of Charles Leclerc.

"It looks so much fun and when you speak to other drivers or people that are over there they seem to love it, they say the racing is great, the atmosphere is great and the series is on the up."

However, with talk of WEC and Super Formula, it appears everything is being considered.

"Formula E is definitely one of the options," he said. "It is interesting in many aspects but to stay in F1 type of driving it's maybe not the best one. FE is more of a career move. There are some other options that you can keep on the F1 radar and come back here."

Check out our Thursday gallery from Suzuka, here.