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McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner Lando Norris is testing a McLaren Formula 1 car this week in Portugal.

The European Formula 3 Championship title contender will get two days of running at the Algarve circuit as part of his prize for winning the 2016 edition of the Award.

Autosport understands the decision has been made to give Norris maximum mileage in a 2011 McLaren MP4-26, after he impressed in the team's simulator.

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

It means he should complete more mileage than is usual in the prize test, which traditionally takes place on the Silverstone grand prix circuit 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 17-year-old, who races for Carlin, 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 front-suspension failure caused him to crash.

In addition to his F1 test and simulator duties, Norris received full BRDC membership and an Arai GP-6 RC carbon crash helmet.