Formula 1 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton will be coming to Malta for four hours on December 9 as part of a Paqpaqli Ghall-Istrina initiative to raise funds for charity.

His Formula 1 McLaren Mercedes is arriving in Malta three days earlier.

Hamilton is being brought to Malta in an initiative by Vodafone, Public Broadcasting Services, The Times and Kinds Mercedes Benz.

This will be one of his last public appearances as a McLaren driver before he moves to Mercedes in January.

One lucky reader of The Times and The Sunday Times will enjoy a hot lap with Hamilton in a car provided by Kinds.

The initiative is part of the Vodafone Raise Your Game initiative.

Vodafone executive director Balesh Sharma said  this was going beyond a sporting event and he was very proud that Vodafone was constantly raising its game in terms of the services it offered.

Allied Newspapers Ltd managing director Adrian Hillman said that the Raise Your Game as an initiative tied perfectly with The Times ethos. He said he wished he could be the lucky reader to get the hot lap with Hamilton.

Kinds director Bernardette Bonnici said she was delighted to have one of the greatest F1 drivers ever coming to Malta. Hamilton, she said, was raise your game personified.

Major Mark Mallia, from L-Istrina organisation committee, thanked all volunteers who worked hard to make this possible and joked that he was worried about how to top it next year.