Lewis Hamilton "praying" for Ferrari power unit after Mexico FP2 failure

Lewis Hamilton is desperately hoping his Ferrari power unit will perform after it led to an early retirement during the second practice session for the Formula 1 Mexico Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion suddenly lost power after 28 minutes as he was driving at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, eventually stopping at the exit of Turn 3.

Hamilton was initially very competitive, sitting among the top five before dropping to 11th in the final leaderboard. Despite the setback, he remains optimistic about the weekend, believing his Scuderia Ferrari remains competitive. "I was feeling really good in the car," Hamilton said. "It's just my luck. We did a really good job in getting the set-up in a better place and yeah, it's just really unfortunate."

The engine failure has left Hamilton "on the back foot" as he spent only one session on Friday, missing half of it due to a rake running. Ferrari was the only team without a young driver at the practice, with 10 rookies contesting the opening session. Hamilton missed significant time in FP1 and is unsure of where he would have placed.

He believes the car was quick and doesn't think many changes are needed. However, he will give it his all tomorrow, hoping to secure a position close to the front row.