Lewis Hamilton’s Mexican Grand Prix preparations were rocked by a sudden loss of power during Friday’s second practice session, leaving the seven-time world champion and Ferrari scrambling to diagnose a potentially serious engine issue. The setback curtailed Hamilton’s running at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, raising concerns over possible penalties and jeopardizing his weekend’s momentum.

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Hamilton’s day began with promise as he finished fourth in FP1, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc by 0.738 seconds while conducting aerodynamic tests. However, FP2 turned disastrous when Hamilton was forced to halt his SF-26 on track after reporting a complete power failure exiting Turn 13. His race engineer, Carlo Santi, immediately instructed him to stop the car, confirming the severity of the problem and preventing any chance of recovery mid-session.

“I lost all power from Turn 13,” Hamilton radioed to his engineer. Despite asking if he could attempt another lap or restart the car, Santi’s response was definitive: “Negative, we cannot restart.” The Briton managed just 13 laps in the session, a stark contrast to Leclerc’s 35, and ended FP2 0.685 seconds slower than the Ferrari’s pace-setter.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur revealed the team was still probing the fault, with no clear explanation yet. “Not yet,” Vasseur said when questioned about the cause of Hamilton’s power loss. “It’s a bit too early because I have to do the press before the debrief. But we will do it tonight.”

Hamilton, meanwhile, expressed frustration at the timing and impact of the issue, keenly aware of the challenge it posed to his race weekend. “I was feeling really good in the car. It’s just my luck,” he admitted. “I think we did a really good job getting the setup in a better place, and yeah, just really unfortunate. I think we’re really competitive this weekend as a team.”

The power loss also robbed Hamilton of valuable long-run data, critical at a circuit notoriously difficult for overtaking. “Then didn’t get to do the long run, so I have no idea how, but I know it’s really hard to overtake here, as you saw some people out there,” he noted. “They’re still investigating to find out what was wrong, and just praying that everything’s okay.”

Adding to the challenges, Hamilton’s Friday was already compromised by the decision to run aero rake tests during FP1 — a task usually delegated to younger drivers. “I missed a little bit of time in FP1 because we did the rake running,” he said. “Normally, I would have one of the young drivers do FP1 at this track like most people did, but I opted to do it somewhere else.”

Despite the disruption, Hamilton remains optimistic about the setup and his competitiveness. “I don’t think I need to make many changes to the setup. Probably much the same because we were very quick. I think I already had like a loss of power earlier on in the lap, and we’re still quick,” he affirmed. “So, yeah, I’ll give it everything tomorrow, and just try to do the best with whatever I have.”

With Ferrari’s investigation ongoing, the spotlight intensifies on Hamilton’s machinery ahead of the crucial qualifying and race sessions. The power unit issue threatens to cloud an otherwise promising weekend and raises the specter of penalties that could derail his championship ambitions in Mexico.