Russell deems crash in Singapore practice "a weird one"

Written by Charlotte Mui

Credit: Formula One

George Russell found the barriers around the Marina Bay circuit not long into Friday's second practice session.

The British driver has been having perhaps his best season in Formula One so far, performing with remarkable consistency and making very few errors.

However, his crash at this very circuit two years ago still lingers in memory. More recently, the Netflix series Drive to Survive captured him battling the extreme heat after the 2024 race, raising questions over his comfort at what is often regarded as the most physically demanding event of the calendar.

When asked about the crash in practice, Russell said: "It was a bit of a weird one to be honest. I'm not too sure what happened. I braked a bit earlier, went in a little bit slower, then just lost the rear."

In regards to the rest of practice, Russell added: "FP1 was challenging. In those early laps [of FP2] I had a much better feel with the car, to be honest.

"We didn't complete any [full] laps, so there was no sort of real lap time on the board, but at least the laps, if you took the sectors together, felt better."

Despite his efforts to stay positive, the British driver ceded: "It's not been our best Friday by a long way."

He will now look to regroup ahead of qualifying, with hopes that Sunday’s race will bring better fortune than the past two years.