David Coulthard has been warned to pull his finger out or face life on the Formula One scrapheap.
Coulthard could be on his way out of McLaren at the end of next season as Juan Pablo Montoya is to move from Williams.
Coulthard heads into his ninth season with the Mercedes-powered McLaren with the spectre of Montoya hanging over his head.
And Coulthard's manager, former racer and now ITV commentator Martin Brundle, is concerned a poor season would leave his client facing life outside a top team such as McLaren, Williams-BMW or Ferrari or even without a drive at all for 2005.
"David will have to drive well all season to give us a chance of finding him a competitive seat," said Brundle.
"He didn't get the job done in the middle of the season and that was when McLaren started looking around and thinking about Montoya.
"And David got a bit scrambled in the head with qualifying. David was very unlucky in Malaysia and Brazil and should have won.
Brundle believes the only way Coulthard can secure his future at McLaren is to beat team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.
"He had an outstanding end-of-season race in Japan where he was miles quicker than Kimi," Brundle added in The Sun.
"He blew his doors off on a circuit which is one of the greatest tests of skill and speed.
"He knows only too well what he must do to stand a chance of a top drive for 2005. He has no plans to retire because he want to continue racing - and winning.