The Italian team, which established itself as the benchmark outfit in Formula 3, joined GP2 this year and has scored six poles, 16 podiums and eight victories with one round to go.

Its drivers Antonio Giovinazzi and Pierre Gasly are set to fight it out for the drivers' title in next month's season finale in Abu Dhabi, as they have a lead of 32 points against the rest of the field.

Following a highly-successful first season, Prema has two of the most coveted seats for 2017 - and the team is close to signing Leclerc and Fuoco, who are first and third in the GP3 standings respectively.

Leclerc became affiliated with Ferrari at the beginning of this season after taking the rookie title and fourth overall in European F3 in 2015.

Fuoco on the other hand has been a Ferrari junior since the beginning of his single-seater career, which included the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps title and stints in both European F3 and GP3.

He raced in Formula Renault and F3 with Prema, but has been away from the team in the past two seasons.

Fuoco is one of a number of Ferrari junior drivers to race for Prema in past years, as Raffaele Marciello and Lance Stroll have both previously represented the team. Guan Yu Zhou also raced with the squad in F3 this season.

Albon in ART GP2 frame

One of Prema's main rivals, ART Grand Prix, is also close to confirming its 2017 lineup.

Honda protege Nobuharu Matsushita is set to stay with the team for a third season, while GP3 driver Alex Albon, currently second in the standings, is the leading candidate to join him.