Sebastian Vettel finally achieved the victory he has needed for some time at the Singapore Grand Prix - but it came about with a healthy dose of luck and a big chunk of controversy.
The Ferrari driver's last win was in the Belgian Grand Prix on 26 August 2018; and since then his driving has been more notable for its regular errors than the speed and easy elegance that marked his four world titles with Red Bull.
Vettel's position as Ferrari number one has been threatened - if not already usurped - by his 21-year-old team-mate Charles Leclerc, and the German has faced questions about his future in the sport.
Coming to Singapore, where he has had such success in the past, offered a chance for redemption and catharsis. He got it, but not perhaps in the way he would have wanted.
'I'm not happy when I'm not delivering'
Vettel was asked after the race whether the win was a relief.
"Yes in a way," he said. "Maybe it kicks in a bit later but yeah, maybe just a confirmation that if you keep doing what you do…
As for answering his critics, he said: "Maybe less satisfying than you think. It wasn't like we were lacking speed or anything. Recently, I think there was nothing wrong in general. Things weren't maybe falling in place, plus obviously I messed up in the race in Monza, that's my mistake.
"I've been around now for a long, long time and yeah, it's just how the tide turns sometimes. I have the highest expectation on myself and I'm not happy when I'm not delivering what I know I can.
"Certainly I had moments this year when I was struggling to just get it out. So, I know that I can improve from there, and I can't be happy with that. But equally I know that it wasn't as bad or disastrous as maybe then people put it together."
Did the right Ferrari win?
It remains to be seen whether this victory will do anything to stem the tide Vettel is facing in the challenge of Leclerc at Ferrari, for while he drove well to seize victory when the chance to do so was provided to him, in many ways the 'wrong' Ferrari won at Marina Bay on Sunday.
It was Leclerc who took a brilliant pole, with an extrovert and acrobatic lap in which he danced with disaster against the walls to snatch top spot from Vettel, who was ahead after the first runs in final qualifying and who also fell behind Lewis Hamilton.
And it was Leclerc who led from the start and who should have been able to control the race on a track on which overtaking is close to impossible among closely matched cars.
But Ferrari admitted to catching themselves out with what is known as the 'undercut', when a car stopping first benefits from the pace provided by fresh tyres to gain a place.
Ferrari's idea in pitting Vettel was to hopefully get him ahead of Hamilton - and at the same time to ensure the German could emerge in clear air in a gap ahead of Nico Hulkenberg's Renault, which was going quickly on fresh tyres after an early incident, and behind Lance Stroll's Racing Point.
They stopped Leclerc a lap later, expecting him to emerge still in the lead, only to see Vettel in front.
"The undercut was effectively more powerful than expected," said team boss Mattia Binotto. "We were not expecting such a big number. We thought Charles stopping the lap after would come out ahead of Sebastian."
The 'undercut' bought Vettel 3.5 seconds when normally it would be more like one to two.
In the car, Leclerc was furious, repeatedly asking what had happened and expressing his disbelief. And even as he calmed down after the race, he was still making it clear that he was not happy about it and wanted a full explanation.
Ferrari's strategy was successful, in that it turned a one-three into a one-two. But the controversy here is that it is convention in F1 for the lead car in a team to be given the strategy advantage. As Leclerc put it: "You never undercut one car with the other in the same team; this never happens."
Binotto admitted later that they had considered swapping the two cars back - although those conversations were not shared with the drivers.
"I understand Charles is disappointed," he said. "He did his best to win the race and he could have won the race. We did consider to swap. We are still discussing with the drivers whether it was the right choice or not."
Those discussions will, he made it clear, continue into this week, and it remains to be seen how it affects the obvious and unavoidable tension between the drivers - the proud, ageing champion and the man who looks on the evidence of this season to be emerging as simply quicker.
Leclerc's pole was the eighth time in a row that he has out-qualified Vettel, and to do it on a track on which Vettel has so often excelled in the past will have hurt.
In all that context, then, victory tasted sweet for Vettel. He pushed as hard as he could on his out lap, and then picked his way through the slower cars in front of him extremely well - and better than Leclerc - as he sought to consolidate his position.
But he will know that it was to a large degree handed to him - albeit accidentally - even if he was not exactly keen to discuss it afterwards.
How would he feel if the positions were reversed, he was asked?
"Not that much point giving that much thought because it wasn't that way," Vettel said. "The team is bigger than myself, bigger than any individual, and we finished one-two. For me and Charles the order is important. That is why we are here, to fight for victories. But for the team the order is not important."
At another point, he said: "You are very misled if you ever think you are bigger than this team." Was that a remark directed at Leclerc?
A couple of hours after the race, Leclerc had calmed down and was playing the team game.
"In the car it was very frustrating," he said. "Now I understand a lot more the situation. I am extremely happy for the team and extremely happy for Seb, too. He deserves it. I wish I was one step higher but it is part of life. Sometimes it goes that way and I will bounce back stronger in Russia."