Remember the date -- May 5, 2016 -- as it may well be a significant one in a glittering Formula One career.
Thursday's news that Red Bull has elevated Max Verstappen to Daniil Kvyat's seat was shocking but in reality has probably been on the cards for a long time. Wonderkid Verstappen undoubtedly has multiple world championships in him and is the hottest commodity on the current grid. He is the sort of talent you break convention for, the sort of can't-miss-kid who is going to rewrite the record books whichever team he is at.
From Red Bull's perspective the move is a no-brainer. It is believed Verstappen has already signed a deal to drive for the team in 2017 in Kvyat's place. The swift decision this week suggests this was a long time coming -- Kvyat's slow start to 2015 led to similar rumours -- and that the events of Russia gave Red Bull a reason to pull the trigger rather than being the only reason for the change.
Before Thursday's news Verstappen faced the prospect of falling backwards down the grid as Toro Rosso's 2015 Ferrari engine became less and less competitive throughout the season. On the other hand, Red Bull is expecting big things from Renault's Canada upgrade and believes it will be mixing it with Ferrari on a regular basis before too long.
It made little sense for Red Bull to wait until next year to elevate Verstappen. Promoting their star asset early gives him 17 races of experience at the top end of the grid in the RB12, presumably with limited pressure on his shoulders given that he comes in late, ahead of his first full campaign next season when the regulations are reset. It reaffirms the team's commitment at a time Mercedes and Ferrari are known to be circling around the Dutch teenager and locks him in to a long-term deal to prevent another team capitalising on any potential clauses in his contract.
Of course, the unfortunate victim in all of this is Kvyat. Many will note he took Red Bull's first podium of the season in China and outscored Daniel Ricciardo in the 2015 standings. However, Red Bull believes both men lost valuable points finishes through unreliability and Ricciardo had big credit in the bank from his three wins in 2014. While Red Bull has never seemed truly sold on Kvyat, Ricciardo has been the golden boy ever since that first season alongside Sebastian Vettel and probably would have been on the podium in China were it not for an early puncture.
Sochi was not the first transgression for the Russian driver. He only qualified 18th and 15th in the opening two races of 2016 -- form Kvyat himself had labelled "embarrassing". He was on borrowed time and only a remarkable run of results could have saved him from the inevitable at the end of the year. China likely delayed this decision but the Russian's huge error in Sochi last weekend ultimately gave the notoriously unforgiving Helmut Marko an excuse to jettison him to elevate Verstappen, a young man Marko once likened to Ayrton Senna and who Red Bull moved heaven and earth to sign to a Toro Rosso seat ahead of 2015.
Kvyat now faces the prospect of trying to save his Formula One career while driving at a team likely to be struggling in the lower midfield by the end of the season as Honda and Renault make improvements in the coming months. Kevin Magnussen managed to recover from a similar career setback with McLaren by landing at Renault this season so there is hope for the Russian driver, especially in a year where the driver market could be wide open with at least one big name expected to lose his seat higher up the grid.
Unfortunately for Kvyat, there is also a long list of former Toro Rosso drivers who failed to carve out a Formula One career after being cut adrift by Red Bull. Jean-Eric Vergne, Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari are among the most recent and Kvyat now faces a big job to ensure his name does not become another addition to that list in 2017.
For Verstappen, expectations will be high around the grid this year but this move is all about the future. The early mistakes and the petulance we saw in Australia this year will fade with age -- his talent will not. Marko has finally got his man where he wants him and has done so at a time when F1's regulations might well be shifting the onus back towards the aerodynamic side of the sport Red Bull has always excelled in.