The 27-year-old spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons with M-Sport in WRC, scoring two podiums and taking a best finish of seventh in the standings.

While he stayed within the British team's ranks this year, M-Sport signed Mads Ostberg and Eric Camilli for the main class and Evans was demoted to WRC2 to develop the brand new Ford Fiesta R5.

After kicking off the year with two victories, Evans had to wait until Rally Corsica last weekend to finish first again, and now leads Teemu Suninen by 37 points - albeit now having contested all seven of his allotted events.

In addition, this year Evans has also contested the revived British Rally Championship, in which became champion in dominant fashion.

Despite the success, Evans reckons his 2016 season has not been a positive one for his career.

"Ultimately, I don't think this year was a positive step in my career in a way," admitted Evans. "We've done what we were asked to do this.

"We've had a limited opportunity to compete at world level with minimal testing. We've delivered as much as we can.

"Obviously I'm still as hungry as ever and, of course, I continue to learn different techniques and other skills, but I would have preferred to be in a World Rally Car still at this point, that's for sure."

Regarding his chances of rejoining WRC, Evans is unsure whether he can secure a seat in 2017.

He said: "I know I'm a lot faster than a good handful of guys – more than a handful of guys – that are already in WRC seats, but it's a waiting game.

"There are some options, but I've been in this situation a few times before and I know how quickly things change.

"I take nothing for granted until there's an offer and it's signed and sealed."

Evans' best opportunity to get back to WRC in 2017 appears to lie with M-Sport, which has only so far confirmed Eric Camilli for another season.

He had also reportedly been in talks with Toyota, which is expected to announced Finnish duo Juho Hanninen and Esapekka Lappi as its primary line-up for next year.