Having made his return to Formula 1 with the Leafield-based outfit this season, Kobayashi's future again came under threat when Tony Fernandes sold the team to a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors in July.

Kobayashi, a podium finisher in the top echelon, was subsequently forced to vacate his cockpit for endurance racer André Lotterer at the Belgian Grand Prix, while he received a last-minute telephone call to return in Italy.

"This is life, this is Formula 1 – you cannot avoid it," Kobayashi sighed during an interview with GPUpdate.net.

Despite having to step aside for Roberto Merhi during the first practice session at Monza, Kobayashi delivered a commendable performance, beating team-mate Marcus Ericsson and both Marussias in qualifying and the race.

But when asked if he can now expect to be in the car for the rest of 2014, he plainly replied: "I don't know."

Expanding on the campaign so far, the Japanese driver commented: "It's been an extremely disappointing season. I knew from the beginning that it would be a difficult season but it's been such a tough time."

Caterham is one of only two teams, along with Sauber, yet to claim a points finish from the first 13 of this season's 19 rounds, although it sits at the very bottom of the championship standings on results countback.