Lewis Hamilton meets young fan as he touches down in Melbourne ahead of Australian GP following Saudi Arabia horror show

LEWIS HAMILTON posed for a picture with a young fan after arriving in Melbourne ahead of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix. The Brit had just made the long trip Down Under, but still had time to make a kid’s day by stopping for a photo. Hamilton, 37, will be hoping to take some good vibes […]

LEWIS HAMILTON posed for a picture with a young fan after arriving in Melbourne ahead of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.

The Brit had just made the long trip Down Under, but still had time to make a kid’s day by stopping for a photo.

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Lewis Hamilton posed for a photo with a young fan[/caption]

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The Brit arrived in Melbourne after a long trip[/caption]

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Hamilton, 37, will be hoping for an improved showing this weekend[/caption]

Hamilton, 37, will be hoping to take some good vibes into this weekend after a rocky start to the season.

Amid Mercedes’ early struggles to compete at the front of the grid, the seven-time world champion scraped just one point in Saudi Arabia after slumping to tenth.

The performance followed a dismal qualifying during which Hamilton was eliminated in Q1.

Hamilton has a great record in Melbourne, having achieved pole position in every year since cars went hybrid in 2014.

But he’ll require something miraculous to extend that record this weekend.

Following the Saudi debacle, Silver Arrows team principal Toto Wolff is believed to be overseeing car upgrades in time for this weekend’s race.

Hamilton, meanwhile, enjoyed a rest day – during which he decided to go sky diving.

The thrill-seeker wrote “Rest day, best day!!” as he posted about his sky diving exploits on social media.

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Hamilton is fifth in the early driver standings – having picked up 15 points for his podium finish in Bahrain before adding another for his tenth place outing in Saudi Arabia.

Wolff admitted to Sky Sports that his team’s start to the season has been an “exercise in humility”.

He said: “We were right in the middle of those fun games at the front for eight years.

“It’s extremely painful to not be part of those games by quite a chunk of lap-time deficit. It’s no fun at all.

“It’s an exercise in humility and it’s going to make us stronger in the end, even though it’s not fun right now.”

Rex