Lewis Hamilton is due to carry the Olympic torch next Monday, the day after the British Grand Prix.

The 2008 world champion was initially scheduled to carry the torch through the Hertfordshire town of Stevenage where he grew up, but this was on Sunday and would have clashed with a certain other important event happening that day.

Consequently, the 27-year-old, dubbed the Stevenage Rocket by Pitpass' Mike Lawrence, will carry the torch the day after, but has yet to be advised exactly where he will be running.

"I am so honoured to have been asked to do it," he told Reuters. "I never in a million years would have thought I'd get to do something so cool

"I have no idea where I'll be running," he added, "but it's great to be the one."

Monday's leg of the relay, which is due to culminate in London on July 27, the opening day of the games, takes in Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Bicester and Oxford, which are all within easy reach of Silverstone.

Looking ahead to the Silverstone event, where he last enjoyed success in 2008 - his championship year - he said he felt; "excitement, sheer excitement to get back on it, to get back to where I was.

"It's just the amount of people that turn up," he continued, "the fans and the roar and the atmosphere that they are able to create. If none of those fans were there, it would be so boring. They make the whole weekend. It's not the Formula One cars, it's the fans."