Bumping into Jolyon Palmer in the Hungarian Grand Prix paddock, he exuded an air of calm and contentment. The perpetual state of stress that creased his face for much of 2017 has finally faded away. He looks a man revitalised now he is out of Formula 1's shark tank and back living life on his own terms.
This is a guy who found out he lost his Renault F1 seat by reading the news on Autosport, remember. That's the kind of world F1 is sometimes: merciless, ruthless, utterly unsentimental in pursuit of faster, better, stronger. Stand still and you will quickly disappear.
Carlos Sainz Jr was the man that took that drive from under Palmer's nose. Sainz agitated to exit Red Bull, realising he was likely to remain little more than a back-up option should Max Verstappen or Daniel Ricciardo ever decide to seek pastures new, which ultimately neither has, yet.