DTM racer Lucas Auer, who also happens to be Gerhard Berger's nephew, looks set to become Force India's reserve driver for 2018.
The 23-year-old, whose DTM Mercedes team shares the same pink BWT sponsor as the Silverstone-base outfit, enjoyed his first F1 test in Hungary last summer.
According to Germany's Auto Bild, Auer would share his reserve driver role with 2017 GP3 champion and Mercedes protégé Georges Russell, whose parents are reportedly close to Mercedes strategist James Vowles.
Auer will once again be racing in Germany's premier racing series next year, Mercedes' ultimate season in DTM, while Russell will step up to the European Formula 2 championship.
The British driver will be in Brazil this weekend however, where he will take part in Friday's first free practice session with Force India, who will also run Russell in FP1 in Abu Dhabi.
Both young drivers have been put on Force India's agenda following team owner Vijay Mallya's desire to hand development roles to promising young talents rather than to deep-pocketed juniors such as Alfonso Celis Jr or Nikita Mazepin who were provided outings with the team this year.
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