Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft felt the need to apologise to George Russell after “cursing” the Mercedes star after a trend had been noticed on social media. Russell crashed out of the Australian Grand Prix in terrifying scenes as he landed in the middle of the track and pleaded for a red flag to be called, which did not arrive.
On the final lap in Melbourne, Russell followed Fernando Alonso into Turn 6 but the speed differential caught the Brit by surprise and caused him to lose control of the car. He crashed into the barriers and landed back onto the track, resting sideways and in the middle of the road while the race continued.
Russell was unharmed but fearful as he called for a red flag over the team radio, though only a Virtual Safety Car was deployed. Alonso received a 20-second penalty and a three penalty point punishment for his role in the incident, though fans on social media may have found an intriguing cause of the crash.
It is not the first time that Russell has crashed out, having done so at the Singapore GP last year, a race that curiously was also won by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. And one keen observer on social media noticed that the similarities did not end there, as Croft commentated over both races and spotted an eerie comment.
Russell’s two crashes in Australia and Singapore were clipped together on social media site X (formerly known as Twitter) and @ScrewderiaF1 noted that: “George Russell tends to crash whenever Crofty says ‘You can hear the cheers of the crowd’.”
For both crashes, Croft uttered the exact same words as he praised the crowd in the short moments before Russell’s races came to a premature end. The spooky sensation was picked up by Croft’s colleague Karun Chandhok who posted the message and said: “He’s a very powerful man our @CroftyF1”
