Esteban Gutierrez says it is irrelevant to dwell on where he will be in 2017 until he registers his first points of the current campaign.
Gutierrez trails Haas teammate Romain Grosjean by 28 points in the drivers' standings after a frustrating half to the season, which has seen him finish 11th on four occasions. Haas boss Guenther Steiner has said the team will not delay on a 2017 driver decision, with an announcement expected to be made around the Italian Grand Prix in early September, meaning Gutierrez has two races after the summer break to register a score.
However the Mexican driver is refusing to focus on that imminent decision, saying it would distract him from the goal of finishing in the top ten after the summer break.
"To be honest, it's irrelevant for me to think about next year because what I want to achieve is points and good results with what I have at the moment. I think a lot of things have played around in the wrong way for me so I am not frustrated or worried thinking about [2017]. I am working hard to get the points [this year] - that's my goal and the rest at the moment is irrelevant."
Though refusing to solely blame reliability for his lack of points, Gutierrez feels he has had the worse share of bad luck in the Haas garage this season.
"We all know that the most difficult part in racing is to be quick, [but] I think that my pace as a driver has improved pretty well, probably better than expected after one year off. The pace of the car is there as well but what has taken away from the points, or let's say for me more than the other car, is mechanical failures, strategy failures, things that are basic.
"I'm not saying that it is only on one side because it has happened on both sides, and the other car has not scored in every race, and probably only in races where there was the chance, but, as a team we need to focus on minimising and solving those basic things and doing a normal weekend without problems, without failures.
"A normal weekend for me would be one with points. This is not going to be normal until then. Every time I don't score the points, I have to say 'okay there is something wrong, what can we do to be there in the points' but, sometimes, we are P11 and P13 doing a normal job and not trying to do something extraordinary.
"We have the pace to be there, that's the simple thing and I focus on that. I would be frustrated and worried if I knew I didn't have the pace and the capacity to do it, but fortunately I have and the pace of the car is good. The team has done a great job, and it has shown the points that it has scored so far."