The 17-year-old British driver will get two days of running at the Portimao circuit as part of his prize for winning the 2016 edition of the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.

Motorsport.com understands the decision has been made to give Norris maximum mileage in a 2011 McLaren MP4-26, after impressing in the team’s simulator.

Norris was due to drive the car for the first time on Wednesday and return to the Portuguese track on Thursday.

It means he should complete more mileage than usual in the prize test, which traditionally takes place at Silverstone at the end of the year and usually comprises a trio of five-laps runs.

Norris was named an official McLaren-Honda F1 junior in February of this year, two months after winning the Award.

The Carlin driver is currently level on points with Joel Eriksson at the top of the European F3 table.

He has two wins to his name after nine races, but was on course to take his third victory – and the Pau Grand Prix title – earlier this month before a mechanical failure caused him to crash.