Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari stopped working during an important Mexico GP practice session.
Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari stopped suddenly halfway through the second practice session at the Mexico City GP, costing him valuable track time.
He was eager to get in as many laps as possible because he’s treating the last five races of the season like “test races” to help build the best car for next year. But Ferrari’s challenge hit a snag in FP2 when Hamilton’s car came to a stop.
In FP1, Hamilton ran with a big aero rake to gather lots of data. Unlike other teams that sat one car out for a ‘rookie’ session, Ferrari decided that practicing in Mexico was too important to miss.
Last week in Austin, Hamilton said he was struggling with a lot of understeer, and the team is now working on fixing that. He finished FP1 in fourth place, about 0.7 seconds behind his teammate Charles Leclerc. But in FP2, he couldn’t match that pace.
“Something’s wrong with the power,” Hamilton said before the team told him to stop just after Turn 4. Ferrari later said they stopped the car as a “precaution.”
Engine problems are common in Mexico because the high altitude means thinner air, which puts extra strain on the turbo and can cause failures. Hamilton had pointed out that Ferrari’s engine is a weakness before coming to Mexico.
He explained, “I’m treating these last five races like test races. Of course, we want to keep second in the Constructors’ Championship, but it’s also a time to review how the season has gone and keep improving.”
“For me, I’m focused on next year’s car — keeping the good parts from this year and making the chassis better. At the same time, I’m pushing hard to develop an engine that can compete with Mercedes and Red Bull.”
“I think the engine is the top priority. We have good reliability, but if our power was as strong as theirs, we’d be fighting for the championship now. Closing that gap is key. I trust the team at the factory is working very hard on this. It won’t be easy, but it’s possible.”
“Also, with the car, we always want more downforce and a bigger window where the car handles well. Right now, the car is only good in a narrow range — when you get it right, it’s great, but it’s tricky and easy to lose grip.”
Meanwhile, on track, Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson had a bit of a clash, sending pieces of bodywork flying and causing a red flag.