Palou, 19, had an impressive start to his single-seater career in 2014, having taken third in Euroformula Open.

He graduated to GP3 a year later and, despite enduring an unlucky campaign with several mechanical problems, finished 10th overall, winning the Abu Dhabi season finale.

Palou returned for a sophomore season last year but, apart from a podium finish in a wet Silverstone race, he had a low-key season and was only 15th.

Palou took part in both the GP2 and GP3 post-season tests at the end of 2016, and also tried a Ferrari GT car over the winter.

The Spaniard will race with former Super Formula team Drago Corse, a new team on the Japanese F3 grid this season.

Drago Corse will team up with ThreeBond and its Tomei engine, which has been previously used by T-Sport in European F3.

The 2017 Japanese F3 season will kick off this weekend at Okayama.