It may have brought back horrible memories for the Brit, who also crashed on the last lap of the 2023 Singapore GP when challenging for the race victory.
It also added to what has been a horrible weekend so far for Mercedes, with poor car performance hampering both of their drivers.
The incident took place right at the end of an FP2 session that was dominated by Ferrari and McLaren, with Lando Norris topping the timesheet.
The weekend started poorly for Mercedes, with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton very downbeat over the team radio after posting a time on brand-new soft tires that only put him in 11th.
Hamilton could also only manage 12th during FP1, while Russell's best result of the day came with a seventh-place finish in FP2.
The team will be hoping for a lot better heading into Saturday, where an all-important qualifying session will take place at a track that is notoriously difficult to overtake on.
Russell's crash didn't end the FP2 session early, but drivers did have to drive around much slower for the final two minutes, with double-waved yellow flags across the circuit.