Lewis Hamilton’s Friday at the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix ended prematurely after his Ferrari SF-26 suffered a sudden loss of power during the second free practice session. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion was ordered to stop his car, but the team radio revealed that he initially wanted to continue and return to the pits rather than abandon the session.
It was a frustrating setback on an otherwise encouraging day for Ferrari. Charles Leclerc had dominated both FP1 and FP2, demonstrating the SF-26’s unexpectedly strong adaptation to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. However, the impressive performance was accompanied by reliability concerns on the other side of the garage.
Lewis Hamilton suffers Ferrari power loss at Turn 13 in Mexico FP2
Lewis Hamilton’s problems began midway through FP2 when his number 44 Ferrari suddenly lost power at Turn 13. The issue emerged in the final sector of the Mexican circuit, forcing the British driver to slow down and prompting his race engineer, Carlo Santi, to instruct him to stop the car.
The unexpected interruption prevented Lewis Hamilton from improving his lap time and brought his Friday programme to an early conclusion. It also denied Ferrari valuable running time on a day when the team appeared to have found a promising level of performance.
The contrast between the two garages was particularly striking. While Charles Leclerc led both practice sessions, Lewis Hamilton was left dealing with a technical problem that interrupted his preparations for the rest of the Grand Prix weekend. Ferrari had already faced questions about how its SF-26 would respond to the demands of the Mexico City circuit, making Friday’s mixture of encouraging pace and reliability concerns especially significant.
Ferrari power unit problem expected to have limited consequences
Following the instruction to stop, Lewis Hamilton pulled over on the circuit, triggering a Virtual Safety Car to allow the Ferrari to be recovered safely before normal track action resumed.
Although such interruptions are never welcome, particularly during a Grand Prix weekend, the problem is expected to have relatively minor consequences. The power unit that experienced the issue is believed to have been Ferrari’s Friday unit, used specifically for free practice sessions.
Ferrari’s technicians are therefore expected to replace it with a fresher, previously homologated unit, allowing Lewis Hamilton to continue the weekend without incurring a grid penalty. If that assessment proves correct, the stoppage should not compromise his participation in the remaining sessions.
Nevertheless, the incident came during a weekend already regarded as technically demanding for Ferrari. Team principal Fred Vasseur had previously warned about the cooling and grip challenges posed by the Mexico City Grand Prix, making reliability an important consideration alongside the SF-26’s encouraging performance.
Lewis Hamilton questions Ferrari’s instruction to stop: full team radio
The exchange between Lewis Hamilton and race engineer Carlo Santi revealed how the incident unfolded. After the driver reported a sudden loss of power, Ferrari confirmed that the problem was visible in its data and instructed him to stop immediately.
However, Lewis Hamilton initially wanted to complete another lap and return to the pits, hoping to avoid losing valuable practice time. He even asked whether restarting the car might be possible, but Carlo Santi rejected the suggestion.
Lewis Hamilton: “Something’s wrong with the power! I’ve lost power since Turn 13.”
Carlo Santi: “Yes, we’ve seen it.”
Lewis Hamilton: “Can I do another lap?”
Carlo Santi: “We need to stop the car. We need to stop on track, Lewis.”
Lewis Hamilton: “Oh, really? Okay, one second. Can I try restarting the car, or…”
Carlo Santi: “Negative.”
The conversation highlighted the difference between Lewis Hamilton’s desire to continue the session and Ferrari’s decision to stop the car after identifying the problem. With the team unwilling to risk further running, the British driver had no option but to end his practice programme early.
For Ferrari, the priority is now to resolve the issue before the competitive sessions begin. Charles Leclerc’s pace in both Friday sessions provided encouragement, while Lewis Hamilton’s interrupted running left the team with additional work to complete ahead of qualifying.
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