3Lewis Hamilton was in good spirits as he arrived for qualifying in Saudi ArabiaCredit: Splash

3Hamilton qualified in seventh place for the second Grand Prix of the seasonCredit: AFP

He rounded off the look with a peace sign as he arrived for qualifying at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit yesterday.

Sir Lewis was pictured smiling, but wasn’t quite as joyful after only managing seventh place on the grid for today’s race.

It was at least better than rival Max Verstappen, who could only qualify in 15th.

Days earlier, the race ace spoke of his unease at human rights violations in the Middle East.

And this week he split from long-time performance coach Angela Cullen after seven years working together.

Amid speculation over his Mercedes future, former teammate Heikki Kovalainen has backed him to stay and even win an eighth world title.

Team supremo Toto Wolff has admitted Mercedes need to provide Hamilton with a car capable of winning.

3Hamilton this week ended his working relationship with his long-time performance coach