Teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli is to replace seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in 2025, the Bild newspaper said on Tuesday.
According to the report, the German team reached a deal with the 17-year-old driver.
Hamilton will leave Mercedes to join Ferrari next season in a blockbuster move that shocked the F1 world. Antonelli would then join George Russell in the Mercedes line-up.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff told broadcasters Sky on Sunday at the Canadian Grand Prix that they "haven't made a decision for next year yet," but added they had already ruled out current Ferrari driver Carlosa Sainz.
"We didn't want to keep Carlos waiting because he has to make the decisions himself," Wolff said.
Sainz has been doing a fantastic job, "but we have now embarked on a path, let's say, that we want to reinvent ourselves a little in the future, and Kimi Antonelli definitely has a role to play," he added
Antonelli skipped Formula 3 and is currently racing in Formula 2. The driver from the Mercedes junior academy has also tested old Mercedes cars.
Hamilton believes that the young driver is a good successor, but he doesn't know what Mercedes plans are.
"But if it was my job, if it was my role, I would probably choose Kimi," he said last month.