Whatever one might think of the race, the Italian Grand Prix served notice that there's a new star in the making as Nyck de Vries scores points on debut.
At a time a number of drivers, including Daniel Ricciardo and Mick Schumacher are seeking drives for next season, any hopes of Nicholas Latifi remaining in the sport beyond the end of the season were effectively killed-off in just over 24 hours.
On Saturday morning, whilst preparing to do some promotional work, Nyck de Vries was called into action by Mercedes on behalf of Williams after Alex Albon was sidelined by appendicitis.
To step into a new car at such short notice is a big ask at the best of times, but further confusing the issues was that on Friday morning he had driven the Aston Martin in opening practice.
Nonetheless, the Dutch youngster buckled down and subsequently qualified 13th, three places ahead of teammate Nicholas Latifi, and following a solid race performance brought the FW44 home ninth the following day, while the Canadian came home 15th.
True, there was a late scare when de Vries was hauled before the stewards for "driving erratically", but even they appreciated that the "youngster was a 'last minute' replacement for the usual driver and had driven the Williams for the first time in FP3".
"The whole of the last 24 hours has just been a dream," he told the media at race end. "I didn't really have much time to think because everything was so rushed.
"I had a very bad sleep," he admitted, "it went from excitement into nerves and I didn't dare even look into my sleep tracking because basically I spent the whole night awake. But perhaps it helped me. I couldn't think and I just had to get on with the job.
"My start wasn't great but it was enough to maintain position, and I think it was key for me to get into a rhythm in the beginning and not lose position because then your tyres are dirty and you're always on the back foot.
"That's why I was really happy with our strategy and how we managed that. And actually the pace was really good, the car was great and we made a small adjustment from stint one to stint two.
"I asked a lot of help from the team to use the tools in the car to influence the balance. Again, I know that we had a little bit of help from outside with grid penalties and all that. But hey, no one take these points away from us."
The youngster revealed that countryman, world champion Max Verstappen, had offered advice just ahead of the race.
"He was kind," said de Vries, who started alongside the Red Bull driver. "We had some messaging last night, even this morning. Lewis congratulated me, they've all been very supportive and very kind.
"Max just came to me and said: 'It's going to be fine, it's going to be good, you will be fine. Just have a good start and get through'.
"So, I appreciate the support, and I'm also very thankful to all the fans who voted me as driver of the day."
De Vries' performance has surely all but killed off Latifi's future with Williams, with some even calling for the youngster to replace the Canadian for the remainder of the season.
However, the Dutchman, who won the F2 title in 2019, admits: "Ultimately, it's not up to me to decide whether I should have a seat or not.
"I can only do my job," he added. "We live in a competitive industry, so you're as good as your last race, and you're always expected to perform, luckily I did that this weekend and I grabbed this opportunity with both hands."
Though Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff has previously admitted that there is no (F1) future for de Vries with the Silver Arrows, he was delighted at the youngster's performance.
"I think, what else should he do in terms of performance than what he has shown today? No training, he jumped in a car that he hadn't driven, straight into FP3.
"Yeah, it showed what he's capable of doing."
"I saw him battling in front of me when he was defending tenth at the time," said Verstappen. "For Nyck to jump in and deliver this performance is definitely... you know, it's not easy at all. I think he did a great job from the things I saw, also in terms of defending. He just kept his cool, didn't make mistakes and I'm very happy for him to score the points. It's impressive, of course, in your first race."
"Oh, I'm incredibly happy for Nyck, and really proud of him," added Lewis Hamilton. "He's such a good lad, a good human, he's been a good part of our team working with us.
"I hope Albon is OK, I know he's gone through a hard weekend, but for Nyck to have jumped in and finish in the top ten in his first race, that's mega for your first race since ages."
"He did an excellent job, impressive," agreed George Russell. "Throughout all of our karting careers he was one of the best. There's no doubt he is deserving of a place in Formula One."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Monza here.
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