For George Russell, his victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix felt like a long-awaited proof, evidence that he had managed to "cross to the other side" and regain his best levels, after a period he himself admitted was "extremely difficult" during the current Formula 1 season.
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The Mercedes driver secured the win after managing to keep Red Bull's Max Verstappen behind him, in one of the closest finishes in the championship's history, earning his first victory since the end of June, seven races ago.
During that period, his teammate Kimi Antonelli achieved three wins, raising his tally to eight wins this season.
For this reason, Russell badly needed this win, his third of the season, which he began as the leading favorite to win the world championship.
But things went in an entirely different direction, after Antonelli imposed his dominance over the season and nearly eliminated Russell's hopes of competing for the title.
Now, a glimmer of hope has returned for the British driver, even if he's too realistic to overthink his chances at present. Russell's win, alongside Antonelli finishing fifth after a weekend the Italian described as "the worst of the year in terms of performance," helped narrow the gap between the two Mercedes drivers to 66 points.
The gap remains enormous, with seven or eight races remaining, and 25 points awarded to a winner, but it's certainly far better than the 81-point gap that separated them before the Baku race.
Russell said: "My teammate has had an amazing season. It was almost perfect throughout the season, but now we're reaching the decisive stage."
He added: "But I'll focus only on myself. If I keep delivering performances like the one I gave this weekend, then regardless of what happens at the end of the season, I'll be happy."
If Antonelli manages to regain his form, Baku will be treated as merely a stumble in an exceptional season for a rising driver who could become one of the future greats.
But it's hard to ignore the parallels with what happened last season.
In 2025, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri arrived in Azerbaijan seeming to dominate the world championship, holding a large lead over teammate Lando Norris, though less than half the gap Antonelli currently holds.
But Piastri suffered a collapse on the streets of Baku, and described the race, upon returning to the city this week, as "the worst race of my career."
After that, things began to fall apart for the Australian, until by the end of the year he was overtaken not only by Norris, but by Verstappen as well.
There's no reason to believe Antonelli will face the same fate, but he has a few things he needs to take in during the few days before returning to the track in Malaysia on Friday.
