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Michael Andretti has stepped back from direct leadership of the Andretti Global team after deciding "it's time now to pass the baton" to business partner Dan Towriss.
It's understood that the exact make-up of the 'post-Andretti' Andretti structure is still unclear even to the team itself, the news having come out earlier than Andretti intended as it emerged during the paperwork process around IndyCar's new charter system. So how the attempt to get into Formula 1 will now be handled - and indeed if any different avenues might be explored - is still to emerge.
But given how much of the F1 bid's public profile was based around Michael himself, and how integral he was to the racing team's existence given his rapid move from driver to co-owner to outright chief as it transformed from Team Green to Andretti-Green and now Andretti Global, his unexpected departure from the limelight is a huge event.
"When my driving days slowed, I set my sights on creating a space that would inspire future drivers to go faster than I had," Andretti wrote in a statement explaining the changes to the team's fans.
"I believe that, together with the help of many very qualified and passionate team members, I have been able to do just that. For the past two decades, our team has seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
"We've grown on a global level that I believe is still untouched in motorsport and we've seen some of the best talent in racing proudly wear the Andretti badge.
"Many of my best memories have come at the wheel of this organisation, and I am so proud of what we have built.
"But decades of running flat out doesn't come without sacrifice and, after much thought and reflection over the past several months, I came to the decision to take a step back."
Andretti's departure from the top job comes with the Andretti F1 team plan still at an impasse with the F1 establishment and a legal case under way, and just as his IndyCar team has achieved its best championship result for six years.
So what might the big change mean for the Andretti F1 project and everything else under the Andretti umbrella?
THE F1 PROJECT
Scott Mitchell-Malm
For all Andretti's actual racing exploits, its unapproved F1 project that may never come to fruition has been its most prominent endeavour for well over a year now.
The more it did without actually progressing with getting the entry it has so far been denied, the more curious things got.
Right now Andretti Global has, it says, a functioning and growing UK base, an active development team, a car in a windtunnel, and a nascent engine programme with General Motors.
This was a conscious Michael Andretti strategy all in anticipation of an Andretti Cadillac F1 entry becoming reality despite it being rejected at the start this year - and FOM showing no outward signs of reconsidering.
Michael Andretti stepping back is a potentially significant change on the Andretti side, though.
He has been a controversial figure in this process as early on he seemed to have quite a confrontational approach with FOM, has made bold remarks about a supposed anti-American bias which stems from his own racing career, and rolled out his famous father Mario to be a prominent spokesperson at times to get the message across.
Whether you agreed with him or not, none of that really seemed conducive to actually resolving F1 tensions. And he also lost his biggest ally when FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem went from vocally supporting an Andretti Cadillac entry to sharing the FOM party line that they should just try to buy an existing team.
Ultimately, he didn't seem to be making much progress as the head of this organisation. A new day to day leader might.
But don't expect FOM to publicly welcome this with an 'Oh, of COURSE we will let Andretti Cadillac in now'. That would just be an admission this was a personal issue after all, when FOM's justifications ran a lot deeper.
What it could do is reset the board a little bit. Maybe there's room for fresh conversations. Maybe there'll be a different attitude or direction. It is no secret that F1 would welcome a GM works team, as Andretti intended to be by 2028. There were even some talks about whether GM could be tempted to try to do that another way - by partnering another team. And there have always been suggestions that trying to buy Red Bull's second team, or Renault's Alpine entry, might just be more prudent.
It's reasonable to assume this is all still on the table especially for a post-Michael Andretti era of Andretti. He must have been opposed to these paths given they weren’t actively pursued.
But instead of a definite game changer it's best to view this as a potential opportunity to kickstart the F1 bid again - whether it's about reviving talks with FOM, having a less contentious figurehead to guide Andretti Global through the ongoing impasse, or simply considering alternative routes onto the grid.
THE INDYCAR TEAM
Jack Benyon
Andretti's roots in IndyCar have grown deeper than in any of its individual teams, series or endeavours.
Michael is an IndyCar champion and widely regarded as the best driver never to win the Indianapolis 500, and the 'us against them' attitude of Michael and his family over the years has garnered veracious support from far and wide.
His stepping back will be a worry for many. But fans shouldn't panic.
While he's always been part of major decisions, the day-to-day and race-weekend running of the team has long been passed on to trusty lieutenants of his choosing. And he'll still likely be an advisor on those big decisions.
He may not be solely responsible for Andretti Global, but it wouldn't exist in the way it does without him, either.
The biggest loss might be for the IndyCar Series. Few in the paddock will say negative words when they are constructively needed, but Michael would. While others dance around 'PR speak' to criticise IndyCar's owner Penske and its head, Roger Penske, has protection from pedigree and previous actions, earlier this year Michael came right out and told Roger to sell the series if he wasn't going to invest more.
It remains the most flat-out criticism - at least from someone of Michael's level - since Roger bought the series.
Constructive criticism is vital to any endeavour and IndyCar lacks it from many key figures.
Such actions upset many people, but if everybody is submissive, things don't work. Some might think that this abrasive nature might apply to Michael's management of his own team, but it doesn't appear to have halted its rise, and we don't know exactly who will fill the roles he has vacated, either.
As for the IndyCar team he's leaving behind, Rob Edwards effectively leads that as COO and has done an excellent job this year managing Andretti dropping from four cars to three, while keeping all the personnel.
More clever people working on fewer cars makes sense and Colton Herta's strong season showed a big team improvement, as did Kyle Kirkwood's consistency.
Jettisoning its relationship with Meyer Shank is the most intriguing element to watch for next year, as that was a team that paid for engineering support and car parts.
While that deal meant Andretti had two more cars to take data from, it also had two more cars to compete against with the same data and equipment.
Shank won the 2021 Indy 500 with Andretti's help, and had a resurgent season this year, but despite the financial loss Andretti might gain more by not having to fight 'itself' on track - even if Shank also did some important development work.
Like Andretti's other teams, the IndyCar group is set up to function without the need of Michael's constant intervention, so providing the right people are placed to manage some of his tasks, it should function well and perhaps even with a refreshed verve.
Towriss (pictured above) will be a big part of how the team moves forward. Among his portfolio are sprawling insurance companies like Delaware Life, Gainbridge etc, so the business side is his speciality. That will no doubt continue as before.
I'm perhaps more interested in how J-F Thormann fits into the puzzle. He is the president of Andretti Global and among his tasks, according to the team, he "oversees Andretti Global's driver recruitment and team development programmes" as well as "overall managerial, business administration and strategic planning duties".
He could accurately, if colloquially, be described as Michael's right-hand man and has a great reputation in the paddock.
How he fits into the team now will be an interesting and crucial part of the puzzle for how the team moves forward globally, if you'll forgive the pun.
FORMULA E AND BEYOND
Sam Smith
The Andretti name and Formula E have been woven together for over a decade now with Andretti's UK-based FE arm one of only two entrants (Mahindra being the other) that have remained an ever-present and consistent name on the entry list through FE's history.
There's often been a misrepresentation that Michael Andretti isn't that involved in the Formula E team that bears his name.
On a day-to-day basis like many of the other teams his name adorns, he isn't on the shop floor all the time.
But in actuality, Michael made the team happen in the first place, was key in the hook-up with BMW that gave it factory status for several seasons, and frequents plenty of races.
Trusty lieutenants such as Roger Griffiths, Edwards and Thormann have all contributed to the Andretti success over the years, with Griffiths particularly central in Formula E, but it was Michael that had the initial meetings with series founder Alejandro Agag in 2013 and saw the opportunity to hammer a stake into what he saw as fertile electric ground.
When the Toronto IndyCar race clashed with the crucial Formula E double-header in Rome in summer 2023, Michael was in Rome. When the title was up for grabs for Jake Dennis two weeks later in London, Michael was at the ExCeL to see his driver clinch it.
Any notion that Andretti wasn't bothered about the sparky branch of his racing empire is just false.
Andretti has a two-year powertrain supply deal left to run with Porsche, a relationship that has pulsated with both positive competitive drive and occasional flare-ups over the last two seasons.
At this stage there is no reason to doubt that Andretti FE is entering its second decade with anything other than an ambition to go for more wins and titles.
Michael's true enthusiasm for the Extreme E side of the Andretti empire is not so well known, although it's understood he backs the series' move to hydrogen power and the team is expected to be in the field if the Extreme Hydrogen plan gets through its so-far difficult transition to its 2025 relaunch.
In sportscars, a discipline of racing Andretti loves, the organisation only fields a GTD class Porsche for Michael's godson and cousin Jarett in the IMSA SportsCar Championship right now.
But amid the current sportscar boom, this is the area where Michael personally might find the Le Mans 24 Hours itch too insatiable not to scratch in the next few years.
